Stephen Jolly: City of Yarra mayor cleared of punching protester at election after-party
An inner-city mayor has walked from court acquitted of unlawful assault after a protester accused him of punching her in the face.
A prominent mayor has been cleared of punching a community activist who had gatecrashed his election after-party.
City of Yarra mayor Stephen Jolly, 64, said he was relieved to be acquitted of unlawful assault after Melbourne magistrate Jill Prior handed down her decision on Friday.
“It’s been hanging over my head for the past two years,” he told reporters outside court.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“The lesson for today is you can’t just mask up, gatecrash a private event, terrorise the attendees and think you can get away with it.”
Mr Jolly, whose council includes Carlton North, Collingwood and Richmond, fought the charge at a contested hearing, denying he intentionally struck activist Estella Burrows in the face on November 1, 2024.
Ms Burrows and two other masked protesters had gatecrashed Mr Jolly’s election after-party at a Collingwood venue, holding a banner and using a megaphone to accuse Mr Jolly of abuse.
It was alleged Mr Jolly punched Ms Burrows to the face as he and other attendees forced the group to leave.
The mayor denied intentionally hitting Ms Burrows and separately argued he was acting in self-defence.
The magistrate on Friday determined Mr Jolly did strike the left side of Ms Burrows but she could not be satisfied he did so intentionally.
It was possible Jolly had been trying to disarm the group of their megaphone or he was reaching forward to move them away, the magistrate determined.
As a result, she found Jolly not guilty of the unlawful assault charge.
Ms Burrows stormed out of the courtroom after the decision was handed down, with another one of her friends saying “shame”.
Jolly did not immediately react but hugged and shook hands with his supporters once the hearing ended.
Outside court, Ms Burrows told reporters she was disappointed but not surprised at the decision, claiming the justice system only worked in the favour of powerful white men.
Jolly then accused the protesters of misusing the law when they had a personal vendetta against him, repeatedly claiming he was a rapist.
“It’s all BS - there’s nothing in it,” he told reporters.
“I just choose to ignore it ... I’m not going to let these people get to me, especially after today.”
Jolly, a Yarra councillor since 2004, flagged a move out of local politics as Victoria’s state election in November looms.
But he declined to say what election he would be contesting.
