A Tamworth publican has been banished to Sydney after being further charged in matters of witness tampering and breaching bail relating to other pending licensing matters.
Owner of Tamworth’s Imperial Hotel, Michael Ian Foxman, was arrested on Wednesday, charged with two counts of ‘acting with intent to influence witnesses’.
The 49-year-old was initially charged in June 2019 by the licensing unit of Oxley police. Police allege as licensee he permitted indecency on the premises on 14 June between 7pm and 12.30am.
On July 23 he was charged with further offenses, acting with intent to influence a witness and two charges of intimidation.
These followed further investigations and concerned a phone call police allege took place on 7 July, where he is thought to have attempted to persuade a witness for the prosecution to give false or withhold evidence. He is accused of threatening physical or mental harm to that man and another.
The case appeared before the Court in August, with Foxman pleading not guilty and released on bail.
In early December he was due to front Tamworth Local Court again, but did not appear, the Court hearing that he had severed ties with his previous barrister, Bruce Donnelly.
The matter was adjourned, but not before yet another charge was filed by licensing authorities, accusing him of furnishing the event on 14 June, in contravention to the hotel’s development approvals.
This week Oxley licensing police arrested him again, charged with a further two counts of acting to influence witnesses, in September and again in January. Magistrate Thompson described the allegations as a “very strong case”, citing affidavits by two people reportedly past or present employees.
In a fresh bid for continued bail, Foxman’s new solicitor offered that he suffered from life-threatening allergies (anaphylaxis) to nuts, mould and dust, and that keeping him in custody was “very dangerous”.
It was also asserted he was crucial to security information at the hotel, and without him 37 people would not be paid, which would have a “knock-on effect” for wider Tamworth.
The pending witnesses were all accused of being disgruntled former employees with an axe to grind.
Magistrate Thompson considered the defendant’s lack of prior criminal history, and imposed strict bail conditions, requiring Foxman to live in Bondi with family and not return to Tamworth until his trial, have no contact with witnesses nor any current or former employee, forfeit his passport, and not use social media.
To secure his release, he was required to provide police all business and personal phone numbers and email addresses, front up $2,000 surety and have another person also post surety, of $5,000.
The matter will come before the Court again in March. Beyond the original alleged offense, interference in judicial proceedings can carry penalty of seven years’ prison.
