Antony Catalano out of rehab but plays cat and mouse with media to avoid court

Media mogul Antony Catalano is out of rehab but has been excused from appearing in court in person over allegations he assaulted his wife at their Melbourne penthouse.

Catalano played cat and mouse with the waiting press pack at the Melbourne Magistrates’ court on Monday, appearing in court remotely via video link from his lawyer’s office around the corner, rather than in person.

After initial inquiries from the magistrate about Catalano’s whereabouts, his lawyer Tony Hargreaves told the court his client had recently completed 28 days at a rehabilitation facility, and said facing the press at court might be “detrimental” to his health and recovery.

Catalano, dressed in a black suit and tie and at times holding his head in his hands, was ordered to turn on his webcam for the hearing, but excused from attending court in person until he enters a plea in the case.

Watching on – after joining proceedings remotely herself from a separate location – was his wife and the mother of four of his nine children, Stefanie.

Police allege Catalano dragged Stefanie by the hair and ankles through their apartment in the early hours of March 13, choked her, swung an iron at her head and threatened to stab her. After multiple attempts to escape, she managed to flag down a passing car outside for help, according to detectives, and was later hospitalised with a fractured coccyx.

Catalano, who built his multi-million dollar empire in the Australian media industry, has been charged with making threats to kill, unlawful imprisonment, reckless causing injury, intentionally choke, strangle or suffocate, and four counts of assault.

Hargreaves requested more time to obtain medical reports, including from a forensic clinician, on his client’s substance abuse issues, adding it was still “early days” in his recovery.

But he said Catalano was remorseful and had accepted he was on drugs when the incident occurred.

Catalano stepped down temporarily as chair of Australian Community Media and checked himself into rehab after being charged with the assault on his wife. At the time, he cited longstanding addiction and mental health issues.

The case was adjourned until June. Though Catalano’s grey Mercedes was spotted parked outside his lawyer’s office well into the afternoon, he did not emerge to face the press pack.

Just before 2pm, a black Porsche with blinds covering its back windows left the office garage, shortly before a contingent from the law firm departed without stopping to answer questions from the media.

Less than an hour later, a man drove away in Catalano’s Mercedes.

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