He acted in the iconic Australian soap Neighbours, now his neighbours are trying to “shame” him, a court has been told.
Damien Patrick Richardson faced Moorabbin Magistrates Court on Tuesday after he was charged with performing a Nazi salute.
Police allege the 55-year-old performed the gesture, in the southeast Melbourne suburb of McKinnon, on Sept. 14.
Details of the charge were not aired in court as Richardson appeared in person, on summons, where upcoming hearing dates were set.
Richardson’s lawyer, Peter Monagle, asked for his client’s suburb to be removed from documents that will be released to media after his neighbours tried to shame him.
“Mr. Richardson did have posters of him posted outside [the] bus stop in the area in which he lives,” he told the court.
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“There has been a concerted effort to get Mr. Richardson to feel shame, by some within that area.”
He will next face the court on June 20.
Richardson starred as Gary Canning in Neighbours from 2014 to 2020, and also appeared in Blue Heelers, McLeod’s Daughters and Wentworth.
He retired from acting in 2021 and unsuccessfully stood as a political candidate in the 2022 federal and Victorian elections.
He stood as an independent in the Senate and then ran for the Freedom Party of Victoria.
