Blass cleared of assault
THE son of iconic wine barron Wolf Blass walked out of court a free man yesterday after being acquitted of assaulting his ex-girlfriend inside a Surfers Paradise apartment.
In handing down her verdict in the Beenleigh Magistrates Court, Magistrate Louise Shepherd said she could not let Anton Blass’s inflated ego influence her decision.
Blass bragged about his wealth and sexual abilities while on the witness stand duryear ing his trial last week.
Ms Shepherd said Blass’s ex-girlfriend was an “unreliable witness” and her version of events on September 8 last could not be trusted. The woman, 25, had a history of making formal complaints to police about Blass and withdrawing them, the magistrate said.
Blass was accused of punching the woman in the face and throwing her into a bed frame.
The 34-year-old said “justice has been served” as he walked out of the court and jumped into a taxi.
“I’ve been acquitted on both charges,” he said. “I’m not a violent man, especially to women. I never have been and I never will be. My family knew I was innocent the whole time.”
Ms Shepherd told the court Blass appeared to have been “under the influence of something” when he took the stand during the third day of the trial last week and described his behaviour as “obnoxious”.
Blass offered the prosecutor sex advice while on the stand.
“This might be a tip for yourself – you take 25mg of Zoloft and you can go for hours,” Blass said during the trial. “I used to suffer for premature ejaculation but now I go forever thanks to 25mg of Zoloft.”
Blass also told the prosecutor: “I have enough (money) to have you go bye bye.”
Ms Shepherd said yesterday: “I don’t penalise him for having an inflated opinion of himself or being boorish. I accept that he’d been trying to end the relationship and that caused him grief.
“Despite his rambling Mr Blass did remain steadfast on the circumstances around the two alleged assaults.”
The court was told Blass had been trying to end his relationship with the woman for a long time but continued to partake in sexual activity with her.
Blass dubbed every Saturday as “break-up day” during the relationship.
Ms Shepherd said she could not determine what exactly had happened on the day of the alleged attack due to the unreliability of both Blass and the woman.
Blass said he was not with anyone when questioned about his current relationship status.