Salim Mehajer gets taste of freedom after walking from prison on parole

Disgraced former local politician and convicted domestic violence offender Salim Mehajer has walked from prison on parole on Friday morning.

Mehajer exited the gates of John Morony Correctional Centre at Berkshire Park in northwestern Sydney and into a waiting car, giving him his first taste of freedom in almost five years.

Mehajer left the jail just after 9.30am in a black Mercedes hire car.

He did not stop to speak to waiting media as he left.

A scrum of 16 cameramen and photographers waited outside the prison grounds in the blistering Sydney winter waiting for his release, while a television news chopper hovered overhead.

The 39-year-old former Auburn deputy mayor was released after the State Parole Authority last month granted him parole on a long list of conditions.

Disgraced former Auburn Mayor Salim Mehajer has walked free from prison, leaving the John Morony Correctional Centre in a black Mercedes on Friday

He was released on Friday morning after the expiry of a non-parole period he was serving for domestic violence and fraud offences.

He has been in prison just short of five years and has served back-to-back sentences for multiple offences.

Mehajer was jailed in November 2020 after he was found guilty of two counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of making a false statement under oath.

The case centred on his lies in affidavits and under cross-examination that he used to secure relaxed bail conditions.

In 2023, Mehajer was again found guilty in separate trials for unrelated fraud and domestic violence matters.

Mehajer was sentenced to a maximum of seven years and nine months in jail for both sets of offences.

He was found guilty by a jury of multiple counts of assault, one count of intimidation and one count of suffocation relating to his abuse of an ex-partner.

He was found guilty of assaulting the woman by punching her in the head during an argument in his car, squeezing her hand and crushing her phone that she was holding, suffocating her by putting his hand over her nose and mouth until she passed out as well as threatening to kill the woman’s mother.

The following month, he was found guilty by a jury of two counts each of making a false document and using a false document.

He was found to have created false statutory declarations and affidavits by forging the signatures of his solicitor, Zali Burrows, and sister.

Mehajer is appealing his conviction for the domestic violence offences and will appear before the Court of Criminal Appeal next month, despite being released from jail.

Last year, Mehajer pleaded guilty to his role in a bizarre staged car crash in an attempt to duck a court appearance.

He pleaded guilty to 22 charges, including perverting the course of justice, making a false representation resulting in a police investigation, making a false call for an ambulance and negligent driving.

He admitted to staging the car accident in Sydney’s west in October 2017, with the court hearing that Mehajer orchestrated the incident in a bid to delay his court appearance for an unrelated criminal matter.

He was sentenced to a maximum of two years for the crash offences, with a non-parole period of 16 months.

Following his release, Mehajer will have to abide by a strict set of conditions during his parole period.

He will have to be of good behaviour, report to a Community Corrections officer, participate in any domestic violence programs where directed, have ongoing treatment from a private psychologist and undergo drug and alcohol testing.

He is also banned from contacting his victim and entering The Central Coast.

As well, he must not have any communication with Outlaw Motorcycle Gang members or associates.