By Eden Gillespie
Copyright abc
WARNING: The following story contains images and views that may be offensive.
A man charged with giving a Nazi salute at the AFL semifinal allegedly performed another salute seven minutes after being released from a police watchhouse for the first offence, a court has heard.
Tylere Baker-Pearce, 39, was initially charged with giving a Nazi salute during the Welcome to Country and National Anthem at the Gabba on September 13.
He was hit with two additional counts of the alleged offence on Monday after being arrested by counterterrorism police outside the Brisbane Magistrates Court.
The disability support pensioner appeared before the same court on Tuesday after spending the night in custody.
The court heard Mr Baker-Pearce allegedly conducted a second salute on Roma Street on September 14, seven minutes after leaving the watchhouse and being granted bail.
Mr Baker-Pearce then allegedly performed a third salute an hour later while travelling by train from Brisbane to the Gold Coast, the court heard.
Magistrate Jacqui Payne granted Mr Baker-Pearce bail on Tuesday, warning him: “Don’t do anything else to get yourself back here.”
She said she was satisfied that he was not a flight risk and considered that he had spent time in the watchhouse.
The duty lawyer, Lana Millar, had argued that Mr Baker-Pearce had already spent a night in custody, which he told her had served as a “deterrent”.
She said the defendant had not yet decided how to plead but had several mental health diagnoses, which would be better treated in the community.
Police oppose bail
Police opposed Mr Baker-Pearce’s bail, with a prosecutor arguing he possessed an “unacceptable risk of committing further offences” and his “pattern of behaviour” showed a “complete unwillingness to comply with the law”.
“The defendant received a bail undertaking for like offending and seven minutes later … has committed a further offence of a like nature, repeating the same offensive gesture and then again, that same day, about an hour on the train,” she said.
The police prosecutor described the strength of the evidence as “clear” and “overwhelming”, including a witness statement and photo of the second alleged salute and CCTV footage from Queensland Rail of the third alleged offence.
The ABC has obtained a photo of Mr Baker-Pearce allegedly performing the salute on Roma Street after his release.
The Commonwealth charge is punishable by up to five years imprisonment and carries a minimum mandatory penalty of 12 months as a head sentence.
Mr Baker-Pearce is also facing a charge of public nuisance (serious vilification or hate crime) in relation to the first alleged salute.
The ABC revealed he was charged with the offence over the weekend, reporting he ran unsuccessfully as an independent candidate in the 2022 Victorian state election and the Queensland state election of 2017.
The court heard Mr Baker-Pearce currently resides in Piggabeen, where he rents with housemates.
The matter will next be heard on October 17 for Commonwealth call-over at the Brisbane Magistrates Court.
