David Knox was one of rugby’s greats during the golden age of the Wallabies. Now he’s accused of a bizarre rampage against his apartment block neighbour

Former Wallaby David Knox is facing a string of criminal charges over a bizarre neighbourhood dispute in one of Sydney’s most famous beachside suburbs.

Knox, who was part of Australia’s 1991 Rugby World Cup-winning squad, is accused of stealing a neighbour’s security camera and destroying a CCTV doorbell. 

The 62-year-old is charged with larceny, contravening an apprehended violence order and intentionally destroying or damaging property worth less than $2,000. 

The alleged offences are part of a falling-out between Knox and Roderick Parker, who lives in the same Arden Street, Coogee, apartment block.

The two men are the building’s longest-established residents, with Knox purchasing his two-bedroom unit for $325,000 in 1997 and Parker paying $740,000 for his in 2013.

Knox lives on the bottom floor and Mr Parker on the top level with his family. 

A series of alleged events in the six-unit block led to Mr Parker privately seeking an apprehended personal violence order to protect him from Knox late last year.

An interim order granted at Waverley Local Court on August 28 prevents Knox from assaulting, threatening, stalking, harassing or intimidating Mr Parker.

Knox must also not go into any place Mr Parker lives or works, destroy or damage any property he owns, or approach or contact him in any way except through a lawyer.

Daily Mail is not suggesting Knox has done any of those things to Mr Parker, only that an apprehended personal violence has been sought against him. 

Police allege Knox breached the interim AVO on the afternoon of November 3, barely two months after the order had been made by magistrate Alexander Mijovich.

Knox is accused of going to Mr Parker’s unit between 1.42pm and 1.47pm and stealing a security camera and sensor light worth $200.

He is further accused of intentionally destroying a doorbell CCTV device at the rear of Mr Parker’s property. 

The onetime Randwick first grade cricketer was arrested at 10.55pm on November 15 – 12 days after the alleged rampage – and charged at Maroubra police station. 

Knox was capped 13 times for Australia between 1985 and 1997, playing in the halves alongside legends such as Nick Farr-Jones and George Gregan in a golden period for the Wallabies.

The fly-half also won eight first grade premierships with Randwick, retiring with a record 2,842 points for the Galloping Greens – the highest scorer in Australian club rugby.

When Knox first faced Waverley Local Court over the charges on December 4 magistrate Michael Barko disqualified himself from hearing the case.

Before being appointed to the bench in 2012, Mr Barko had served for 20 years as honorary counsel for the Randwick District Rugby Union Football Club.

Knox entered not guilty pleas and the matters were set down for a ‘Section 14’ hearing when he would seek to have the charges dealt with under mental health provisions of the law.

The case has since been adjourned until later this month.

Knox is described on the Classic Wallabies website as ‘the closest thing Australia had to Mark Ella after the great fly-half’s retirement’.

Young Knox attended Matraville High, the same school that produced Ella, his brothers Gary and Glen, fellow rugby international Lloyd Walker and Wallabies coach Eddie Jones. 

‘Knox possessed superb ball and handling skills, and could dominate a game through his “bag of tricks”,’ the Classic Wallabies website states. 

‘He was suitably enigmatic and while public opinion of him was divided there was little doubt he was a true genius of the game.’

Knox was noted for his game management and was an outstanding left-footed goal kicker. 

Having been an exceptional schoolboy talent, Knox’s path to representative honours was initially blocked by Mark Ella and another generational fly-half, Michael Lynagh.

Knox’s first big break came when Ella suddenly quit rugby after the 1984 Grand Slam tour of the UK, opening a spot for him in the NSW side the following year. 

When Lynagh, a Queenslander, was ruled out of the 1985 home series against Fiji due to a knee injury Knox made his debut for the Wallabies. 

After being selected for the second Test, Knox waited almost five years before gaining his third cap for the Wallabies.

Knox was picked in the 1991 Rugby World Cup squad but did not play a match during the tournament, which Australia won under Farr-Jones’s leadership.

Three years later, Knox returned to the Wallabies for two Tests against Western Samoa and New Zealand.

Knox pulled on the national jersey three more times in 1996 and on five occasions in 1997, playing the last of his 13 Tests in a 13-year international career in which he scored 130 points.

From 1982 to 1998, Knox played 246 games for Randwick, scoring 55 tries, 536 goals and 510 penalty-field goals.

Knox had a stint with the ACT Brumbies and played professional rugby in South Africa, the UK, France and Italy.

After hanging up his boots, Knox held coaching positions with Italian club Padova, Waverley College in Sydney, Ireland’s Leinster and Randwick.

Knox later taught design and technology at Sydney Boys High School where he coached the First XV.

In October 2009, Knox was sent off for indulging in backchat with the referee while playing against the British Army in the Sydney World Masters Games.

As he was leaving TG Millner Field at Marsfield in the city’s north, Knox became involved in an altercation with members of the crowd.