A man allegedly hired to spy on the model ex-girlfriend of Ultra Tune mogul Sean Buckley was “caught red-handed” with listening devices inside the victim’s home, a court has heard.
Mr Buckley, 61, appeared in an online hearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday facing multiple assault and stalking charges levelled against him by his ex-bikini model girlfriend Jennifer Cruz Cole.
The court heard Ms Cole walked in on Buckley’s co-accused, Wade D’Andrea, who was attempting to retrieve listening devices installed in her home.
D’Andrea is one of two men allegedly hired by Buckley to keep surveillance on Ms Cole.
“Mr D’Andrea was caught red-handed with them,,” prosecutor J.J Jassar told the court.
“He had gone into the complainant’s apartment and was retrieving them and the complainant happened to come back into the apartment, see Mr D’Andrea there and a chase ensued.
“He was apprehended by two other people that were in the premises.”
The alleged recordings are at the centre of the case against the high-flying Australian entrepreneur, who founded the Ultra Tune empire in the late 1970s.
Mr Buckley is fighting allegations he threatened to kill Ms Cole in an assault at Crown Casino, where the couple were staying on January 18 2020.
There are further claims he later hired two others to plant listening devices inside her apartment and car.
The alleged stalking spanned over several months in 2020.
Ms Cole, a former Ultra Tune “rubber girl” who appeared in racy ads for the company, shares a child with the multi-millionaire.
During the hearing on Monday, Buckley’s lawyer Remy van der Weil told the court he was chasing further recordings of Ms Cole’s private conversations made at the time.
Mr Buckley’s lawyers plan to examine audio recordings to test their authenticity.
While recordings connected to the charges have already been provided, Mr Van der Weil said additional recordings were needed to form a defence against claims Ms Cole was living in fear.
“There is a child involved, there was a serious objection about the health of Ms Cole,” Mr Van Der Weil said.
“We have a real concern, obviously, in terms of what has occurred between Ms Cole, the child and other people in terms of indicating her lifestyle and situation of fear.”
The magistrate questioned whether the recordings could adequately portray Ms Cole’s fear.
The prosecutor argued the additional recordings were not relevant to the charges, and enough audio material had been provided.
“They’re private conversations from illegal recordings off a device that was installed in the complainant’s house,” Mr Jassar said.
“They are of no relevance txjmtzywo this case whatsoever.”
