From the AJN:

Footballer fined over Nazi jibe
Naomi Levin

ONE of the three men charged with last year’s attack on Orthodox businessman Menachem Vorchheimer has been convicted and fined $1000 for yelling “Go Nazis� at his victim.

Ocean Grove footballer Simon Phillip Christian pleaded guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday to shouting abuse from a minibus window as Vorchheimer walked to shul with his children on October 14 (Simchat Torah).

Christian, 21, was convicted of one count of assault using insulting language.

In sentencing, Magistrate Barbara Cotterell told the court she hoped the punishment would deter others from engaging in racist attacks.

“These words [‘Go Nazis’] have a much more serious overlay,� she said.

Outside court, Vorchheimer said he was satisfied with the conviction.

“From my point of view it [the outcome] was very reassuring. It’s not about the [severity of the] penalty, but the conviction and the upholding of the law,� he told the AJN.

Earlier, the magistrate dismissed claims by Christian’s defence lawyer, Brian Bourke, that the remarks were an alcohol-induced slip.

“I don’t accept that [it was slip]. His behaviour was extremely racist,� Magistrate Cotterell told the court.

“You must be living in a vacuum to not know what [‘Go Nazis’] means.�

Prosecutor John Sutton had asked the magistrate to order Christian to tour the Jewish Holocaust Museum and Research Centre as part of his bond so that he could better understand the impact of his actions.

But Magistrate Cotterell said that she would prefer he made his own decision to attend.

The court heard that Christian is a final-year economics student at Deakin University who had spent some of his childhood in Malawi in Africa.

During the police investigation into the incident, Christian conceded that his remarks were offensive to Jewish people.

Vorchheimer said that he did not necessarily see the incident as antisemitic, but one of ignorance and intolerance.

“I think the message that I would like to send to the wider community is that prejudice is often founded by misconceptions [about the victims],� Vorchheimer told reporters.

Earlier this week, Christian participated in an out-of-court diversion program, which could have helped him avoid a conviction. But after it failed, the matter was referred to court.

The other two defendants, James Dalton and Matthew Cuthbert, failed to appear in court on Tuesday.

Dalton, who is charged with the theft of Vorchheimer’s hat and kippa, is scheduled to reappear on June 13.

Cuthbert, who allegedly struck Vorchheimer across the face, will contest three counts of assault and one count of assault using insulting language at his mention on June 14.