Sandi Matic convicted of contempt as Vivien Yap’s lawyer Martin Bennett calls for jail sentence

An angry former client of western suburbs real estate agent Vivien Yap has been convicted of criminal contempt of court for an accusatory email he shared with judges and politicians. Justice Gail Archer found Sandi Matic’s August email containing extremely serious allegations against Ms Yap and her lawyers was designed to stop the agent pursuing a Supreme Court injunction action. Justice Archer said she was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Mr Matic had sent the email to people including Chief Justice Peter Quinlan, Attorney-General John Quigley, Justice Marcus Solomon and some of the former Mt Claremont home owner’s local members of State Parliament. Mr Matic will face a sentencing for criminal contempt on Friday, six days before he is due to be sentenced by Justice Solomon over his second conviction for civil contempt of court. Ms Yap’s lawyer Martin Bennett on Monday afternoon asked Justice Archer to consider jailing Mr Matic for his criminal contempt in a bid to provide personal deterrence and a broader public deterence. “Aside from short imprisonment, it is difficult to see what will deter Mr Matic,” Mr Bennett said. The self-defended litigant has landed in deepening trouble since being hit with an injunction by Ms Yap in February last year after he threatened to interrupt her home opens to express his dissatisfaction with her efforts. He had hoped to sell his owner-built house in Mt Claremont in late 2021 for more than $2 million, but Ms Yap was only able to sell it for around $1.7 million because it still needed finishing work. His first civil contempt was for an email he sent to Ms Yap’s law firm Bennett & Co. in March last year. He was convicted by Justice Solomon of a second civil contempt in December after failing to turn up at a sentencing hearing on November 30 for the first civil contempt. Mr Matic has been ordered to front up at the Supreme Court next Thursday before Justice Solomon for sentencing on his second contempt. Pushing for Mr Matic to be jailed by Justice Archer on Friday, Mr Bennett said Mr Matic continued to treat the court with disdain. Mr Bennett said this included him not complying with a $16,057 immediate legal costs payment order that Justice Solomon imposed on him last month for his first civil contempt. Pointing to Mr Matic espousing the views of the radical sovereign citizens movement, Mr Bennett said the court needed to provide a general deterrence over his criminal contempt. Mr Matic was part of a clique that argued individual rights were paramount and superior to the authority of the court. “Mr Matic is not a sole actor among sovereign citizens,” Mr Bennett said. Justice Archer said Mr Matic’s sovereign citizen views did not appear to be relevant to his August criminal offence. But Mr Bennett read excerpts from Mr Matic’s email, including where he appeared to suggest he was not bound by the court and espousing his views on human identity. Justice Archer said she would order Mr Matic to attend his sentencing on Friday.