Neo-Nazi leader refused bail over alleged camp attack

By TARA COSOLETO

A white nationalist will remain in custody after a magistrate refused him bail over an alleged attack on an Indigenous camp.

Neo-Nazi group leader Thomas Sewell has been refused bail after allegedly attacking an Aboriginal protest site.

Sewell, 32, looked straight ahead after magistrate Donna Bakos handed down her decision in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday morning.

He has been charged with 25 offences including violent disorder and affray over the alleged attack on Camp Sovereignty in Melbourne’s city centre.

Men dressed in black clashed with people at an Aboriginal protest site known as Camp Sovereignty.

Sewell allegedly led a group of about 30 men dressed in black to storm the Indigenous camp on Sunday evening after attending an anti-immigration rally.

Members of the white nationalist group are accused of holding down occupants of the camp before kicking and punching them.

The incident injured three people, with the worst suffered by a woman who required staples in her scalp to close a wound, the court was told.

Bail opposed

Victoria Police opposed Sewell’s application for bail, arguing he was an unacceptable risk to society because his violence had been escalating.

Sewell’s lawyer Mathew Hopkins told the court his client had never missed a court hearing and was committed to fighting all charges.

Ms Bakos on Friday ruled there was an unacceptable risk of Sewell endangering the community as she refused his bail application.

AAP