Disgraced former deputy mayor Salim Mehajer has dealt another crushing blow behind bars

Disgraced former politician Salim Mehajer will find out this week how much time will be added to his already lengthy prison sentence after pleading guilty to masterminding a car crash in Sydney’s west.

Mehajer, 38, appeared in the Downing Center District Court in Sydney on Wednesday after pleading guilty to a number of charges, bringing the long-running saga to the final stage.

In July, Mehajer pleaded guilty to 22 charges, including making false statements resulting in a police investigation, falsely calling an ambulance, careless driving and perverting the course of justice.

The charges relate to a staged car crash in Sydney’s west in October 2017 in order to avoid appearing at a Local Court hearing.

His black Mercedes AMG hit another car at the intersection of Nicholas and Delhi streets in Lidcombe, and TV crews at the scene captured Mehajer being carried on a stretcher to an ambulance with his neck in a brace.

He also pleaded guilty to using identity information to commit an indictable offense in relation to his designating other drivers as guilty of road and traffic offences.

The case was scheduled to go to trial in 2020, but was discontinued at 11 a.m. and was subject to lengthy legal delays.

After pleading guilty earlier this year, Mehajer appeared before Judge Warwick Hunt on Wednesday for a sentencing hearing.

Mehajer has faced several trials over the past few years, with the car crash charges being the final case for which he faces trial.

His lawyer, Ian McLachlan, told the court that Mehajer was diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 2018, there was a causal link between his condition and the crime and he was suffering from “big thoughts” at the time.

He asked Judge Hunt, who will sentence on Friday, to backdate Mehajer’s sentence.

“He has clearly had a lot of time to reflect on his previous actions,” McLachlan said, noting that Mehajer has been in custody since November 2020, when he was convicted of two counts of perverting the course of justice and one count of making a false statement under oath.

Mehajer came to public attention in 2015 after a lavish wedding attended by helicopters, fighter jets and dozens of luxury cars which closed a street in Lidcombe.

The former deputy mayor of Auburn is already in prison after being found guilty of unrelated fraud and domestic violence charges in separate trials midway through last year.

In a decision handed down earlier this year by District Court Judge James Bennett, Mehajer was sentenced to a maximum of seven years and nine months in prison.

Last May, a jury found him guilty – after a self-represented trial – of six charges, including multiple assaults, one count of intimidation and one count of strangulation.

He was found guilty of assaulting the woman – who cannot be identified – by punching her in the head during an argument in his car, squeezing her hand and crushing the phone she was holding, and threatening to kill her mother.

The following month he was found guilty by a jury on two counts each of making a false document and using a false document.

He was found to have created false documents by forging the signatures of his lawyer, Zala Burrows, and his sister.

The crimes stemmed from events that occurred after his bankruptcy filing in March 2018. When police searched his home and found $6,350 in cash, Mehajer then provided an affidavit claiming the money belonged to his sister.

He was convicted of both fraud and domestic violence offenses and will be eligible for parole next July after serving 3.5 years.

Until he pleaded guilty to a staged car crash, his sentences were served under a suppression order.

The court was told he had signaled his intention to appeal against convictions for domestic violence and fraud.

He will also appear before the Court of Criminal Appeal next week, where he will argue for bail ahead of the appeal.