Salim Mehajer says allegations he punched a woman and threatened her mother are bizarre and lies

Salim Mehajer knows he is notorious, but the allegations that he repeatedly beat a woman, threatened to put a bullet through her mother’s head and strangled her are “bizarre” and “laced with a number of lies,” he says.

The 36-year-old former deputy mayor of Auburn is defending herself against seven domestic violence charges in NSW District Court.

Mehajer, who addressed the jury on Wednesday morning, asked for patience and understanding that he is representing himself, is in custody and is not a lawyer, which should not harm his case.

“I understand I’ve been infamous,” he told the jury.

But the things they may know about him are not proven facts, he said.

“What you have before you in this trial are facts and evidence that no one has ever seen,” he said.

The allegations against him cannot be conclusively proven and the allegations are not entirely true, he said.

“Some things have happened, but what you have to be very careful about is that the allegations against me have been sprinkled with a number of lies,” he said.

‘When the complainant started to lie, it spread like wildfire. The lie just got bigger and bigger.”

The woman who complained to the police in December 2020 about multiple instances of domestic violence over a number of years cannot be identified.

The jury will hear her testimony on Wednesday while the court is closed to the public, with Mehajer questioning her through an intermediary.

She told police he acted violently towards her in a “desperate effort” to have the criminal case against her dropped after being charged with him, Mehajer said.

Charges were eventually dropped against both of them and he doesn’t know why, he said.

“The point I’m trying to make is this: the complainant’s motive remains unchanged,” he said.

Mehajer’s ex-wife will be called as a ‘key witness’ in his case.

Despite not speaking to each other, he expects her to tell the jury that their 10-year relationship contained no violence.

He also plans to question the complainant’s relatives about elements of his argument and is investigating with police for messages he says are screenshots, not downloaded originals, and may not be legitimate.

Crown prosecutor Ken Gilson addressed the jury on Tuesday about the allegations against Mehajer.

Mehajer “had bouts of rage where he would physically hurt her” as their relationship continued, and he threatened to harm her family or himself, Mr Gilson said.

He allegedly threatened to put a bullet in her mother’s head or have someone else do it if he was put in jail.

Mehajer is accused of hitting the woman in his car ten times on the head, pinning her down and squeezing her hand so hard that her phone screen at his home burst.

The charge described by Mr Gilson as the ‘most serious’ relates to an incident where Mehajer allegedly covered the woman’s mouth and nose with his hand, causing her to stop breathing until she passed out.

The process continues.

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