Julia Gillard’s ex Tim Mathieson will plead guilty to nipple sucking incident after legal setback as magistrate rips into lawyer over court fail

Julia Gillard’s ex-boyfriend Tim Mathieson will plead guilty to assault after he was charged with sucking a woman’s nipple without her consent.

Mathieson, 66, is accused of sexually touching the woman in Brunswick East in Melbourne’s inner city on March 13 last year.

Mathieson – known as Australia’s ‘first chap’ during Mrs Gillard’s reign – appeared via videolink at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.

His attorney Brad Penno requested that the case be postponed until October 19 for a plea hearing, indicating that Mathieson would plead guilty to a single charge of assault.

The 66-year-old initially faced three charges after being charged with two counts of stalking, amid allegations that he entered a woman’s home without her consent.

These two stalking charges, previously revealed by Daily Mail Australia, were dropped by the prosecution.

Mr Penno had said in an earlier court appearance that he hoped Mathieson would be dealt with through the court’s diversion programme.

Under Victorian law, diversionary plans are often passed on to first-time offenders and are intended not to affect a person’s life in the future.

Under the diversion plan, Mathieson would not have to plead formally for the charges, but instead simply make confessions to the crimes charged.

However, Mr Penno said on Thursday that this has now been ‘taken off the table’, meaning Mathieson could face a conviction.

There was a tense moment between magistrate Andrew Sim and Mr Penno, appearing via video link, when the solicitor said he was experiencing sound issues.

Mr Sim said Mr Penno could either come to court in person or buy himself cheap headphones.

“We’ve been living with the Covid pandemic for three years now, you can buy a $30 cheap headset,” Mr Sim said.

No details of Mathieson’s offense in court were aired on Thursday, and the case will return in October.

According to the indictment, Mathieson “intentionally sexually touched (the victim) by sucking her nipple without her consent, in circumstances where the defendant did not reasonably believe that (the victim) consented to the touch.”

Mathieson met Ms Gillard while working as a hairdresser in 2004 and the pair became an item two years later.

Mathieson met Ms Gillard while working as a hairdresser in 2004 and the pair became an item two years later

After Ms Gillard became Prime Minister in 2010, the couple became the first unmarried couple to live in The Lodge until a leadership crisis toppled her in 2013.

Mathieson regularly accompanied Mrs Gillard on assignments in Australia and on her official trips abroad.

Ms Gillard revealed in early 2022 that she and Mr Mathieson had split some time earlier.

Despite Mathieson stating in 2011 that he wanted to marry Mrs Gillard, the couple never married.

No details of Mathieson’s offense in court were aired on Thursday, and the case will return in October