Lawyer representing Lidia Thorpe’s alleged attacker, Ebony Bell, says there are ‘real flaws’ in senator’s accusation

Ebony Bell was 28 years old charged with multiple counts of assault and recklessly causing injury for the incident which occurred after the AFL Dreamtime match between Essendon and Richmond on May 25 at around 10.30pm.

The alleged attack was reported the next day and Victoria Police arrested Bell on July 25 in northeast Melbourne.

She was granted bail and appeared in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court via video link on Monday.

Bell’s lawyer, Emanuele Nicolosi, said prosecutors submitted a proposal to resolve the case on Friday but did not have enough time to consider it.

He said there were “some real flaws” in the allegations.

The court was told two of the five charges related to the alleged assault on Senator Thorpe.

Mr. Nicolosi expressed doubts whether the alleged injuries disclosed by Senator Thorpe were related to the alleged crimes with which his client was charged.

“The alleged assault victim did not indicate when or where… she only gave a very vague reference to the (alleged) assault,” he said.

The allegations came to light after questions were raised about Senator Thorpe’s position in the Senate and her attendance record after she publicly disowned King Charles during his visit to Australia.

In 2023, Senator Thorpe attended only 38 of 66 meeting days (58%) and voted in only 206 of 558 precincts.

This year, the senator’s turnout improved slightly – he attended 28 of 44 meeting days (64%) and voted in 222 of 493 districts.

In response to a report published in The Australian, Senator Thorpe wrote on X that she was “missing work after being seriously assaulted at a public event”.

“I needed spine surgery and now I have a metal plate on my neck,” she said.

In later remarks to SkyNews.com.au, the senator gave further details about her injuries but said she was reluctant to speak openly about the alleged assault.

“I have a scar on the front of my neck from it. The doctor advised me not to travel and I could not attend parliament. The doctor told me to take time off work,” she told SkyNews.com.au.

“A police investigation is currently ongoing.

“It’s unfortunate that I was forced to reveal this in order to defend myself, even though I would prefer to keep it to myself, but to you it’s just another day in the colony.”

Despite Senator Thorpe’s description, Victoria Police told Skynews.com.au that “the woman sustained minor injuries during the incident”, reflecting Nicolosi’s comment on the seriousness of the alleged attack.

SkyNews.com.au is in no way suggesting that Senator Thorpe has deliberately exaggerated claims about the extent of her injuries.

Bell appeared in court via video link due to “some threats,” Nicolosi told the court.

“My client is a Koori woman. The reason for her appearance is that there have been some threats recently,” Nicolosi said, as reported by The Australian.

Mr Nicolosi also called for Ms Thorpe’s name to be removed from the charge sheets, but Judge Belinda Franjic sided with the media because the senator had publicly identified herself.

It is alleged that Ms Thorpe and Bell knew each other before the incident.

The case will return to court on November 22, where it will appear again via video link.

Last week, Ms Thorpe made headlines around the world after she shouted at King Charles in the Great Hall of Parliament.

“Give us back what you stole from us: our bones, our skulls, our people. You destroyed our land. Give us the treaty. We want a treaty in this country.”

She also said, “You are not our king… Give us back our land.”

“You are not my king. You’re not our king… Fuck the colony. Fuck the colony. Fuck the colony.

Her public disavowal of His Majesty, coupled with a deliberate play on words during the oath-taking ceremony in which she pledged allegiance to the late Queen’s “hair” rather than her “heirs”, sparked calls for an investigation into her position in the upper house.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton described her outburst against the king as “disrespectful” and demanded he step down.

“I think there’s a very strong argument for someone who doesn’t believe in the system but is willing to take a quarter of a million dollars a year out of the system to basically give up,” he said last Tuesday on Sunrise.

In an interview with Sky News Australia on Thursday, Chris Merritt of the Australian Rule of Law Institute questioned whether Senator Thorpe’s disavowal of King could justify the removal of the independent Victorian senator from the Senate.

“Did she deny this oath after her outburst before the king in which she declared that he was not the king? Does this mean renouncing the oath? These are not trivial issues,” he said.

“The Constitution very clearly defines the requirements that must be met for senators to be eligible to take office, and if they are not met, a senator cannot validly hold a seat in the Senate.

“So I think the starting point is to do a fact-based investigation to find out exactly what happened. The Senate offices may be a starting point, but I would not be at all surprised if the matter ends up in the High Court.”

From NewsWire.