Cop son of former deputy PM denies club attack

A club manager says he was left “seeing stars” after an alleged altercation with the cop son of former Deputy Prime Minister Michael McCormack outside a notorious venue in Sydney’s CBD.

Nicholas James McCormack, 26, appeared before Downing Centre Local Court on Monday, with his father in attendance, after pleading not guilty to four counts of common assault and one domestic violence related assault.

He was also charged with domestic violence-related stalking or intimidation and affray.

Police allege the constable assaulted a woman at a licensed venue on William St in Darlinghurst shortly before 1am on November 24, 2023, attacking three other men at the same time.

The court was previously told “in a nutshell” that the incident related to an argument at a Christmas party, with Mr McCormack, who was attached to a specialist police command, arrested at the scene.

Club 77 venue manager Oscar Peterson gave evidence during the hearing that he was left “seeing stars” after being punched “very hard” when the alleged altercation spilt onto the street.

He told the court Mr McCormack had been in an altercation with another man inside the bar before he was spotted by Mr Peterson outside, “dominating” a separate man in the street outside.

Mr Peterson told the court he attempted to intervene but as a result “took some punches to the face and head”, but admitted to trying grab Mr McCormack by the back and neck to subdue him.

Landing back on the ground, Mr Peterson said he “felt like someone was pushing my head into the ground” after which he said he bite his alleged attacker before police arrived later at the scene.

“I had my eyes open but I could only see black. I remember him being completely over me while I was on the ground and I could feel my head smash the pavement,” Mr Peterson told the court.

“I remember screaming out to Saad (a security guard) to get him off me and I remember fear in his voice, saying ‘I can’t get him off you’. I felt like someone was pushing my head into the ground”.

In cross examination, lawyer Paul McGirr told Mr Peterson he did not mention he bit Mr McCormack or that he had tried to punch him in either of his statements to police following the incident.

“What I am putting to you is you have been selective in both those statements (removing) anything that does not suit your case,” Mr McGirr said, with Mr Peterson denying the claim under cross examination.

Mr McGirr also put to the venue manager that both security guard Saad Khan and himself were “angry” during the alleged confrontation, to which Mr Peterson claimed he was only fearful.

“He (Mr Khan) was fearful for me … I wouldn’t say angry, he didn’t seem angry. He wasn’t shouting, he wasn’t giving any indication he was angry,” Mr Peterson told the court on Monday.

Under his own cross examination, Mr Khan vehemently refuted propositions by Mr McGirr that he “wanted to be aggressive” and “wanted to be in a fight” on the night of the alleged incident.

Mr McGirr also questioned the security guard over claims in his evidence Mr McCormack had pushed his girlfriend and had said during the scuffle in the street that “I’m f****d, I’m done”.

Mr Khan went on to deny propositions he “purposefully dropped his knee on Mr McCormack” but admitted he “forgot” to put in his statements to police that he had hit Mr McCormack back.

After his evidence, Mr Khan was escorted from the courtroom by sheriffs after representatives of the DPP told the court he had been taking photos on his phone, contrary to NSW law.

A third security guard who assisted in Mr McCormack’s arrest, Sean Caird, told the court under cross examination he did “not recall” if Mr Khan was angry during the altercation in the street.

He was told by Mr McGirr that he said in a statement to police in February, 2024 that he had “grabbed my client (Mr McCormack) in a bear hug because Mr Saad was going to punch him”.

He went on to state Mr McCormack had been aggressive, but did not mention it in his statement. He continued, stating Mr McCormack had said “don’t touch me” and that “he was trying to attack us”.

He earlier told the court that a second statement to police “should have been struck out” because it related to a “separate incident”, sparking confusion from Mr McGirr and the police prosecutor.

The 26-year-old cop is the youngest son of former Nationals leader Michael McCormack, who also served as deputy prime minister between 2018-2021 under then Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

The younger McCormack graduated from the Goulburn Police Academy in 2020, with his graduation ceremony held at the Sydney Cricket Ground with his father and Mr Morrison in attendance.

His father Michael McCormack, from Wagga, was elected to the House of Representatives for the Riverina region in 2010. Before politics, he was editor of the city’s local newspaper, The Daily Advertiser.

The hearing will continue on Monday.

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