Media mogul Antony ‘The Cat’ Catalano charged with assault after allegedly dragging a woman and swinging a clothes iron at her head
Media mogul Antony ‘The Cat’ Catalano has been charged with assault after he allegedly dragged a woman through her unit and swung a clothes iron at her head.
Mr Catalano, the co-owner and chairman of Australian Community Media (ACM), is facing charges of assault, false imprisonment and making threats to kill.
The journalist-turned-executive, 59, faced court via video-link from a police station in Melbourne on Friday night following the incident, the ABC reports.
The woman suffered a fractured coccyx after she was allegedly dragged through her apartment by the hair and ankles, a summary of the police allegations stated.
‘The accused dragged the victim to the laundry area where he grabbed a clothes iron and held it towards the victim’s head, causing the victim to grab onto the iron herself,’ the summary said.
The woman claimed Catalano swung the iron ‘forcefully’ at her head, but his barrister Jason Gullaci SC said that allegation was not included in the police summary.
Police said the media boss had been admitted to a psychiatric ward four weeks ago after he used drugs and began experiencing mental health issues.
It was alleged he rang police from his $55million Byron Bay home after seeing what he believed were people emerging from the woodwork around the property.
Media mogul Antony ‘The Cat’ Catalano (pictured) has been charged with assault after he allegedly dragged a woman through her unit and swung a clothes iron at her head
Antony Catalano is pictured with his wife Stefanie
Police said the media boss (pictured with his wife Stefanie) had been admitted to a psychiatric ward four weeks ago after he used drugs and began experiencing mental health issues
Mr Gullaci told the court there was ‘no doubt’ his client had made contact with the woman, based on CCTV of the incident.
He said the aftermath of the alleged attack ‘doesn’t look great’.
But he said Catalano, a father-of-nine, had a clean criminal history and had significant property and business interests that he was an integral part of.
Police argued the media boss should be denied bail and remanded in custody due to a ‘significant’ risk of him reoffending or leaving Victoria.
Catalano was granted bail after agreeing to a series of conditions and the case was adjourned until May 11.
The media boss resigned as chief executive of the property listings company Domain in 2018 after working at Fairfax Media as an executive.
Catalano bought ACM with billionaire investor Alex Waislitz in an eye-watering $115million deal the following year.
ACM’s titles include the regional newspapers such as the Newcastle Herald, Illawarra Mercury, Canberra Times and The Examiner in Launceston.
