Dragons player Talatau Junior Amone has been stood down by the NRL after he faced court alongside his father on Wednesday following allegations the pair attacked a tradie on a rooftop last year.
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Junior, who was granted strict conditional bail on December 23 last year, is yet to enter pleas to one count each of reckless grievous bodily harm in company, damaging property and intimidation.
The 20-year-old's matter was mentioned briefly at Wollongong Local Court with evidence to be served in two weeks.
Meantime co-acussed and father-of-nine Talatau Senior Amone, who has been remanded since November over the alleged incident, failed in his bid for release.
The father and son duo are accused of leaving a tradie with injuries to his wrist, elbows and ribs after an alleged dispute erupted when the worker parked his vehicle across from the Amone household on November 15 last year.
Police will allege Senior exited his Warrawong home about 10.30am and began taking photos of the tradie's legally parked car, who was working on the roof of a nearby property with a colleague.
The tradie asked why Senior was allegedly taking photos, to which he did not respond and returned inside, according to tendered court documents.
A short time later, Senior is accused of reaching into the vehicle's window and snapping off its indicator before returning inside.
About 11.30am, police will allege Senior, Junior and an unknown co-accused walked over to the car and started jumping on its roof, causing major damage.
The tradie called triple-0 when the trio allegedly started climbing a ladder onto the roof he was working on.
It is alleged Junior started swinging a hammer towards the tradie, causing him to fall backwards off the roof.
The tradie hit an air conditioning unit on the way down, police say, leaving him with wrist, rib, elbow and hip injuries. He was taken to hospital shortly after, and allegedly told police Junior was the "main aggressor".
Court documents state police spoke with Senior at his house shortly after, who allegedly told officers he was unaware of what had happened.
Senior stands charged with destroying or damaging property, entering a building or land with the intent to commit an indictable offence, affray and two counts of intimidation - with an extra charge of reckless grievous bodily harm in company laid by prosecutors yesterday, the court heard.
Senior Amone's bid for release
Defence lawyer Elias Tabchouri argued Senior had struggled with mental illness and received little treatment in custody, proposing a $350,000 surety could be deposited to the court.
"Since being in custody, he has suffered depression and anxiety, and despite his size, he has not been able to eat," Mr Tabchouri said.
Mr Tabchouri also argued the injuries sustained by the victim were not enough to establish grievous bodily harm.
"There are so many triable issues to this matter," Mr Tabchouri said.
He went on to argue there were discrepancies in the police facts.
"To suggest that somehow, these people would accost these victims, for no reason at all but that they're parked on the curb requires some logic," Mr Tabchouri said.
"When the defence is raised, all will come to light."
Police prosecutor Sergeant Kate McKinley opposed Senior's release, arguing he was on Supreme Court bail for serious matters at the time of the alleged offending.
Sgt McKinley added the prosecution case was strong considering "several" witnesses provided statements to police, with parts of the alleged incident caught on CCTV.
An affidavit from Senior's wife and proposed house arrest-style bail conditions were not enough to convince Magistrate Greg Elks to grant bail.
Magistrate Elks accepted those in custody struggle to receive appropriate health care, however said the matter was "serious" and a full-time jail sentence would be inevitable if Senior was found guilty of the charges.
Junior's bail was continued, with both co-accused's matters to return to court on March 1.
The court heard the third co-accused allegedly involved in the incident remains unknown.
Read more Illawarra court and crime stories here.
Grace Crivellaro
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
