The truck allegedly blocked by Leo Carvalho from entering a Mr Fluffy demolition site did not enter the property’s driveway before he was arrested, a court has heard.
Carvalho, 71, was charged on May 13 this year after he allegedly obstructed the truck from entering 4 Barrow Place in Lyons, a Mr Fluffy house in the process of demolition.
The truck was there to take a skip full of material from the site to the tip, but neighbours, including Carvalho, had concerns over how the demolition was being carried out.
He has pleaded not guilty to the one obstruction charge, and on Thursday faced a hearing in the ACT Magistrates Court.
Under questioning from defence lawyer Mark Davis, the arresting officer station sergeant Harry Hains said the truck had not entered the driveway but had pulled up opposite.
The court heard the truck driver had asked Carvalho to move, but the officer agreed under questioning that he had not also asked Carvalho to move, saying the man’s intentions were very clear.
Mr Davis suggested Carvalho had made a statement saying he intended to block the truck and the police had no way of knowing if he actually would.
Prosecutor Brian Ngugi pressed the officer on why he did not have the truck driver attempt to back the truck into the driveway while Carvalho was standing there.
Sergeant Hains said it was a very big truck, and he wasn’t prepared to put Carvalho in the “extremely dangerous” situation of having it reverse at the man in the driveway.
Another officer at the scene, detective sergeant Louise Denley agreed to questions from Mr Davis that Carvalho was polite and she didn’t see him pushing workers away.
Mr Davis asked why they hadn’t waited the 10 minutes the Carvalhos had asked for while union officials made their way to the property, which he said seemed a reasonable request.
Detective sergeant Denley replied they had been told by Emily Springett from the ACT Asbestos Response Taskforce that the CFMEU had been consulted and weren’t coming.
The driver also took the stand on Thursday, explaining how he had got out of the truck and asked Carvalho to move.
n a police video tendered by the Crown, Carvalho can be seen standing in the driveway with his feet wide and hands behind his back as he was approached by the driver.
The driver can be heard saying “I tried”, before he walked back to the truck, and Carvalho is seen shortly after arrested without incident in the driveway by sergeant Hains.
The hearing will continue before special magistrate Dominic Mulligan in February.
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