Sam Barnett punched lawyer, bruising his head and eye in business bust up

Sam Barnett avoided a criminal record by a whisker after Christian Porter, former political colleague of his father and now a barrister, pleaded for him to get a spent conviction. Despite Mr Barnett having a previous spent conviction, Magistrate Michelle Harries decided to grant him another one “by the finest of margins”. The Sunday Times last month revealed the son of former WA premier Colin Barnett pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm on Greg Maher, his former lawyer and business associate. Transcript from the hearing at Joondalup Magistrates Court on August 7 revealed the dramatic details of the violent bust up and how close Mr Barnett, 35, came to getting a criminal conviction, in addition to a big fine. Mr Porter, who was attorney-general and treasurer during Mr Barnett Sr’s first term as premier, argued a conviction would do “significant damage” to his client’s “future business prospects”. He also stressed Mr Barnett was remorseful and intended to see a counsellor to address his emotional control and management of anger. The hearing was told Mr Barnett had confronted Mr Maher during a chance encounter at a BP petrol station in Greenwood at 7am on January 29 this year. The situation escalated when Mr Maher attempted to get back in his car after paying for his fuel. “The accused moved in and blocked the victim from shutting the door,” the police prosecutor said. “The accused kept pushing on it to stop him from closing the door. The accused then punched the victim in the head using his right fist. The victim suffered a large hematoma to his forehead and bruising to his right eye. “The accused attempted to punch the victim again, but the victim blocked him with his right arm.” “On June 10, the accused presented himself to police where he declined to participate in an interview, and he was advised he would be summoned with the present charge,” the prosecutor added. Mr Porter explained that his client had been in a range of business deals with Mr Maher, who was also his lawyer. “They had a serious falling out around both their business relationship and the conduct of Mr Maher as a solicitor,” he said. “The heat of the falling out on the business front was very much alive at the point of time in which Mr Barnett saw Mr Maher pull into the service station. “He made the incredibly stupid decision to follow him in there and attempt to engage in a conversation about the things that have gone wrong in their abysmal professional relationship.” He said what happened was “a spontaneous act and a very foolish and wrongful one on Mr Barnett’s part which he absolutely and utterly accepts was a totally unacceptable act by him”. “By his plea of guilty and his instructions to me, (he) absolutely accepts that what he did was foolish, wrong. And it was a terrible decision in the heat of the moment that he made in the context of a disintegrated business relationship,” Mr Porter added. He said Mr Barnett was “from a supportive and constructive family environment”. “He’s serving a period of bankruptcy, which relates to the issues that have gone wrong between Mr Maher and himself and that business venture. He’s due to come out of that period of bankruptcy in early next year,” Mr Porter said. “Mr Barnett is essentially a property developer. He’s at the disadvantage at the moment in that in bankruptcy he’s not engaging in business of that nature. “But his plan is, when he finishes the period of bankruptcy, that he is going to be engaged in property development. Specifically with mining companies to build accommodation in regional Australia which would involve him contracting with mining companies but also in circumstances where he will on occasion be contracted by mining companies. “So, a (criminal) record in those circumstances will do some significant damage to his future business prospects.” Mr Porter also said Mr Barnett had the promise of future work from the owners of Dandaragan Redgum Village, which accommodates regional workers. The magistrate told Mr Barnett the offence carried a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment in a superior court “but in this court, two years or a $24,000 fine”. “But it’s the five years imprisonment against which I measure the seriousness of the offence,” Ms Harries said. She said Mr Barnett should be ashamed of his actions, but accepted the behaviour was out of character for him. “You do have a breach of the family violence restraining order on your record. And the prosecution has conceded that that didn’t involve any allegation of physical violence. And that was dealt with by way of a substantial fine, $1000 for a first breach (which) indicates to me that it wasn’t at the bottom end of the scale. “But in any event, you also received a spent conviction in relation to that.” The magistrate said spent convictions “ought to be given rarely, in exceptional cases”. “I am going to grant one by the finest of margins,” she said. She also fined him $2500, to be payable to the victim, plus court costs of $272.70. Mr Barnett’s bankruptcy trustee Graeme Lean this week said he was unaware of the nature of the business deals that Mr Barnett had engaged in with Mr Maher. He said he would be submitting questions to both men on the matter. Bankruptcy trustees administer the assets of bankrupts in the interests of creditors and the bankrupt. Until recently, Mr Barnett and Mr Maher had business ties via Toodyay’s historic Freemasons Hotel, since rebranded as Toodyay Hotel Restaurant and Tavern. The Barnett family have a significant ownership stake in the business. The Sunday Times was aware that Mr Barnett and Mr Maher were also involved together in other business ventures. One of them, Katanning Minerals Pty Ltd, was deregistered in July. Mr Barnett’s prior property development ventures had all failed, with investors complaining they were scammed out of large sums of money. Two years ago he was accused of assaulting a process server in Toodyay who was trying to give him a writ. The process server complained to local police that Mr Barnett became abusive and pushed him away before attacking his vehicle “with his fist on numerous occasions”. WA Police at the time said there was insufficient evidence to take the matter further.