Seb Costello, a reporter for A Current Affair, appeared in court after claims that he attacked a lady and her brother.
The 35-year-old Nine Network reporter showed up by videolink for the brief hearing at Collingwood’s Neighbourhood Justice Centre, which is close to Melbourne.
Two charges of criminal violence against Costello’s neighbors Xanthe and Finn Whittaker were brought against him in February.
The court did not ask Costello, who is known for intimidating unsuspecting victims outside of courthouses, to give a statement.
Rather, prominent attorney Sam Norton of Stary Norton Halphen spoke on his behalf.
Borce Ristevski, one of Australia’s most heinous murderers, was represented by Mr. Norton, who also informed the court that his client had no intention of entering into a plea deal with the prosecution over the allegations.
‘The summary case conference has been performed. At this time, the issue has not been resolved,’ he stated.
After being charged on a summons, Costello is still at large and will return to court in November to fight the accusations.
The son of former federal treasurer and Nine chairman Peter Costello will be prosecuted on summons for allegedly assaulting a man and a woman, a Victoria Police spokesman announced in a statement in July.
The statement said that “the guy is believed to have been engaged in an incident with a 23-year-old male and 22-year-old woman in an unknown laneway near Boyd Street at 9.30am.”
‘There were no injuries during the event.’
At the time, Costello told Daily Mail Australia he would “vigorously dispute” the allegations.
According to the Herald Sun, the allegations center on an argument over a parking space in the neighborhood.
His alleged victims reportedly apologized to Costello for obstructing the laneway, but the reporter shouted at Xanthe, according to a Melbourne newspaper.
Tensions reportedly increased when her brother Finn intervened to assist.
To prevent him from pushing into me, “I had to put my palm out on his chest,” Xanthe stated.
I had to enter the home to restore my equilibrium since he was standing on the same step as me.
“When my brother brought up contacting the police, Costello swiftly backtracked.”
After his grandmother passed away, Costello told the Herald Sun that he had been on compassionate leave from work. When he went home at 9.30am, a vehicle was in his “driveway,” he said.
He told the newspaper, “A quarrel erupted when I approached the neighbor’s front door to ask them to relocate the automobile so I could enter my property.”
Costello disclaimed having threatened or assaulted anybody.
Just a week previously, the reporter had made headlines for himself after being accused of being attacked by disgraced former AFL player agent Ricky Nixon.
At Port Melbourne, Nixon was being pursued by Costello up Bay Street when it looked that Nixon struck Costello in the face with his elbow.
Daily Mail Australia received a confirmation from Victoria Police that Costello had reported Nixon for the incident.
Unsettling video that night on ACA showed Nixon apologizing to Costello in jest after seeming to strike the unaware reporter on the jaw.
When the 59-year-old learned that Costello was facing assault charges of his own, he took to social media to make fun of him and called on his followers to pursue Costello down the street as retaliation when he ultimately appeared in court.
For the last ten years, Costello has consistently been a familiar face and voice in Melbourne.
The former producer at radio station 3AW immediately established himself as a top reporter after joining the Nine News Melbourne team in 2012.
But Costello has fallen into trouble with rival network Seven multiple times while looking for scoops and stories.
He broke up his association with Seven News reporter Tom Browne in 2015 after a “clash” occurred when they covered AFL player Lance “Buddy” Franklin’s comeback after a spell of absence due to mental stress, according to the Herald Sun.
While Costello went beside Franklin and obtained the inside scoop, Browne was unable to get near to Franklin during a live cross because he was constrained by a microphone cable linked to the camera and his earpiece fell out in the middle of the pursuit.
Then, according to Costello, the Nine newsroom described the Browne’s fiasco as “the worst live TV they’d ever seen.”
After “colliding” with Seven News reporter Sharnelle Vella as they both sought out remarks during a court hearing in 2019, Costello made news once again.
An observer told the Herald Sun that Costello “gave Vella a “fair old hip and shoulder” as he jostled for position and also had a run-in with the Seven cameraman.”
In contrast to what Vella said, Costello subsequently admitted his mistakes and stated, “I should have had greater awareness,” adding, “I hope it didn’t happen like that.”
After going “missing” from screens for many weeks in 2017, Costello’s whereabouts came under scrutiny during his 18-month tenure as Nine’s European reporter.
The Nine reporter said he was “burnt out” after covering a string of significant events, such as the Grenfell Tower catastrophe, Manchester Arena explosion, and London Bridge terror incident.
In August 2017, soon after arriving in Barcelona to cover the terrorist assault on the La Rambla that left 13 people dead and 130 wounded, he took a three-week vacation.
He earlier admitted to the Herald Sun that “it all just sort of struck” him when he arrived in Barcelona on a Thursday night.
I felt exhausted in the circumstance. When I arrived home, we just decided to plan a little vacation.
Costello sought expert advice on how to prevent another burnout while on leave.
At the time, he remarked, “Having someone to speak to enabled me to sort out what was and wasn’t working and how to balance job and personal life a lot better.”