Olympic champion Grant Hackett has been spared giving evidence in court after his former brother-in-law admitted falsely claiming the swimmer tried to run him over in his car.
Jason Zurzolo, 37, pleaded guilty on Monday to one charge of making a false report to police in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, in that he lied to police when accusing Mr Hackett of trying to run him down while crossing Toorak Road in Prahran on November 2 last year.
The court heard Zurzolo was waiting to cross the road when Mr Hackett drove past him in his black Mercedes, and that about 15 minutes later he went to a police station and reported that the swimmer had beeped his horn at him and that he, Zurzolo, had “to jump out-of-the-way”.
But CCTV footage taken from nearby shops showed Zurzolo actually crossed the road without incident, the court was told.
Image courtesy of Sarah Ewart, CC BY-SA 3.0
