SCOTT Jacobs, Fiona and Paul Rossiter, and Derek Maitland were ordered by police to leave the Orange City Bowling Club after an altercation at the Orange Ratepayers’ Association (ORA) annual general meeting on July 24 last year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mr Jacobs, 35, told Bathurst Local Court yesterday he went to Orange police station after being ejected from the meeting as he was concerned about the way ORA members Brian Woods and Cyril Smith had behaved.
“He [Mr Woods] was in a worrying mental state,” Mr Jacobs said.
“He lunged at Derek Maitland [at the club] when the police weren’t looking and Cyril was standing over me trying to argue in my face.”
Mr Jacobs said he had tried to stand up for his rights as a member of the ORA who had every right to be at the AGM.
Mr Madden asked Mr Jacobs what experience he had to assess Mr Woods’ mental state.
“Are you trained in psychology?” he asked.
When asked whether Mr Maitland had told people at the meeting he was using a recording device Mr Jacobs said he did not know.
“But I could see the light flashing,” he said.
Mr Madden asked if Mr Jacobs had observed any anti-ratepayers’ association leaflets being handed out. Mr Jacobs said he saw Mr Rossiter with one in his hand.
“And I think Derek [Maitland] had one too,” he said.
Mr Jacobs said a month before the AGM he told Mr Smith and Mr Woods he would not vote for them and they had lost his support.
Shortly afterwards, Mr Jacobs said he was visited by police who said they had received a complaint from the Orange Ratepayers’ Association about his intimidating behaviour.
