Wayne Cooper faces more court drama in the New Year after being accused of assaulting his wife
EXCLUSIVE
Fashion designer Wayne Cooper’s new year will start just as the old one ended – with more court hearings over restraining orders and allegations that he assaulted his wife.
Cooper, who rose to fame in the 1990s with his BRAVE label, was in and out of the dock repeatedly in the days leading up to Christmas, as well as spending two stints behind bars.
The 61-year-old has been in court so many times since early December that a new allegation that he assaulted his wife Elizabeth Adams previously went unreported.
He now faces two charges of common assault and one of breaching an apprehended violence order, and is also named in separate AVOs sought by police to protect both him and his wife.
He is also banned from coming within 200 kilometers of the estranged couple’s $5 million mansion in Myocum, 13 kilometers inland from Byron Bay on NSW’s far north coast.
Cooper married Adams in December last year, after meeting the mother-of-two just nine months earlier, but their union had been problematic for much of that time.
Police first sought an AVO to protect Cooper from Adams at Byron Bay Local Court in early August.
Magistrate Kathy Crittenden confirmed that order on August 19 for two years, banning Adams from assaulting, intimidating, threatening, harassing or stalking her husband.
Fashion designer Wayne Cooper’s new year will begin as the old one ended — with more court hearings over dueling restraining orders and allegations that he assaulted his wife. Cooper is pictured outside court in 2008
Weeks later, Ms Adams, 47, revealed to Daily Mail Australia that the shadow of Cooper’s ex-wife Sarah Marsh loomed over their marriage, causing a meltdown that landed her in court.
“As Princess Diana said, ‘There are three of us in this marriage,’ so it’s going to be a bit crowded,” the former UBS banker said.
“But despite the uncertainties, my commitment to Wayne remains steadfast. Our love for each other is contagious and we are more committed than ever.”
At the same time, Cooper told Daily Mail Australia: “Everything is fine. It’s a storm in a teacup. We’re together and we’re happy and that’s all.’
Marsh responded by saying she had no contact with Cooper and had nothing to do with his new wife.
“I’ve never met her,” the one-time model said. “Except I saw her in court once. As for him, I haven’t spoken to Wayne in over two years.’
Days after those comments, in mid-September, Byron Bay police applied for an AVO to protect Adams from Cooper. That case was dismissed on October 28.
All was quiet for the next five weeks.
Cooper has spent so much time in front of magistrates since early December that a new allegation that he assaulted his wife Elizabeth Adams has previously gone unreported. The couple is pictured on their wedding day
Cooper married Ms Adams in December last year after meeting the mother-of-two just nine months earlier. Mrs. Adams is pictured on her wedding day
Adams then went to police on December 8, claiming Cooper assaulted her during an argument involving a wine bottle at an apartment complex in Campbell Parade, Bondi.
That resulted in Cooper being charged with common assault the next day, when he was also hit with another interim AVO.
Cooper failed to appear at Waverley Local Court on December 12 on the assault charge, but pleaded not guilty and the case was adjourned for hearing on May 19.
Magistrate Miranda Moody heard Cooper was not present because he had returned to the Myocum home he shared with Adams.
A week later, Cooper was arrested again and brought to court on December 21, charged with breaching an AVO and a further charge of domestic violence.
Those cases were adjourned until January 20 after he was granted bail by Parramatta Local Court.
On the same day, Cooper was allowed to retrieve property from a place where Adams lived, albeit in the company of police.
He was not allowed to enter Myocum but had to report to Byron Bay police station on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Cooper faces two charges of common assault and one charge of breaching an apprehended violence order. He is depicted with his wife
Adams was made subject to a two-year restraining order in August, which prevents her from assaulting, intimidating, threatening, harassing or stalking her husband. The couple is in the photo
Cooper was then arrested in Myocum on December 27 and spent another night in the cells.
The following day he was confronted via audiovisual link at Parramatta Local Court, charged with breaching his bail, but was released again.
Cooper’s new bail conditions allowed him to pick up a vehicle in Byron Bay and then not come within 200km of the city except to go to court.
He was ordered to live at an address within the City of Sydney local government area and report to Kings Cross police station three times a week.
An application to vary or revoke the AVO protecting Cooper from Adams will be lodged in Byron Bay Local Court on January 6. He will appear in the same court on the latest assault charge on January 20.
Cooper proposed to Adams by hiding an engagement ring in a bowl of caviar during a romantic dinner at Bondi Icebergs.
The couple had been dating for just eight months after the breakup of Cooper’s tumultuous 25-year relationship with Marsh.
Cooper and Marsh sold their Tamarama home in February 2022 for $11 million, after purchasing the five-bedroom, five-bathroom home for $5.5 million in 2011.
Adams told Daily Mail Australia in September that the shadow of Cooper’s ex-wife Sarah Marsh loomed over their marriage, causing a breakdown that landed her in court. Cooper is pictured with Marsh
Cooper was arrested on December 27 at the multi-million dollar mansion (above) he until recently shared with Adams in Myocum, near Byron Bay on the NSW north coast.
The following month, they paid $5.09 million for the Myocum estate, a five-bedroom, six-bath estate with a tennis court, resort-style pool and landscaped gardens.
Cooper was arrested at the Myocum home in May 2022 and charged with two counts of domestic violence.
The charges come just 12 months after Cooper furiously denied that he and Marsh had ended their marriage.
Cooper, who has two children with Marsh, told Daily Mail Australia at the time that a story the couple had split up was “completely made up”.
The assault charge, which stemmed from alleged incidents in Tamarama in December 2015 and May 2016, was dismissed by a magistrate in August last year.
An application for an AVO to protect Marsh from Cooper was also rejected.
Cooper was given a two-year good behavior bond in December 2008 after pleading guilty to assaulting Marsh just days after she underwent cancer surgery.
The attack happened when Marsh tried to demonstrate to Cooper how she claimed he pushed her while on holiday in Port Douglas in far north Queensland.
Charges of assault occasioning actual bodily harm and stalking and intimidation arising from the same events were dropped at Waverley Local Court.
British-born Cooper grew up in London’s East End and moved to Australia in 1985, where he studied fashion design at East Sydney Technical College.
He started the labels BRAVE, WAYNE COOPER and WAYNE. His clothes were once sold in two Melbourne boutiques and are now available at department stores in Myer.
Cooper’s Australian Fashion Week shows featured models such as Linda Evangelista, Eva Herzigova and Sarah O’Hare (now Murdoch) and he was a regular on the reality TV series Australia’s Next Top Model.