'Hate' sheik Man Horan Monis and girlfriend Amirzh Droudis granted bail on murder charges
Man Haron Monis.
A SELF-STYLED sheik accused of colluding with his girlfriend to murder his ex-wife tried to plead guilty in court yesterday - to stealing a breakfast pack in prison.
During a lengthy and at times bizarre bail application Man Horan Monis, 49, interrupted the bail hearing of him and his co-accused, Amirzh Droudis, 34, who is charged with murder, to tell the court he wanted to plead guilty.
Victim: Noleen Hayson Pal, right.
Monis is charged as an accessory before and after the fact to the murder of Noleen Hayson Pal, 30, who was stabbed 18 times and set alight outside a western Sydney unit in April.
He asked to be brought up from the cells at Penrith Local Court to "plead guilty to a crime I've committed".
Mr Monis' lawyer Manny Conditsis told the court his client's outburst was to plead guilty to stealing a breakfast pack in Silverwater Jail - which he hadn't been charged over - not to the charges before the court.
Prosecutor Brian Royce said Monis' claims the Iranian Secret Police and ASIO were trying to frame him for the murder was "fanciful".
Magistrate Daryl Pearce said all theories needed to be examined, adding the prosecution case was weak. He granted bail as a "simple matter of fairness".
The court heard Ms Hayson Pal had pleaded with her murderer to stop.
The Crown's chief witness, who allegedly watched the attack unfold through his peep hole, opened his door to ask "what are doing?" when he saw Ms Hayson Pal having fluid poured on her and set alight only to be told to "go back inside" by a woman wearing a "black cape" and a headscarf that didn't obscure her face.
The court heard Monis and Ms Hayson Pal had been involved an "acrimonious" custody dispute.
Mr Royce told the court Monis went to "extreme and elaborate lengths" to create an alibi while Ms Droudis committed the "brutal" murder.
Mr Royce said Monis deliberately filmed a clock, while asking for the time, at a Penrith pool before the murder and faked a car crash outside Penrith Police station after which he claimed he had chest pains and was taken to Nepean Hospital. He said Monis made no attempts to contact his ex-wife after the accident.
Mr Conditsis said outside court the magistrate "made a courageous decision" granting bail. "It is important to note that he assessed the Crown case as weak. Mr Monis and Ms Droudis will strenuously fight these charges," he said.
The pair will reappear in court on January 22.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/ne...n-murder-charges/story-fni0cx12-1226781623998