Monday 23rd of December 2024

the hearts of men .....

the hearts of men .....

 

The father of a young Olympic archery hopeful sat directly behind one of his daughter's rivals as she attempted to qualify and made a grunting noise after every shot, a Sydney court has heard.

The claims were made today by the mother of Odette Snazelle, Australia's fourth-ranked female archer, who is seeking an Apprehended Violence Order against Jonathan Barnard, the father of third-ranked archer Elisa Barnard.

While Ms Barnard qualified for the games, Ms Snazelle missed out.

Ms Snazelle alleges that, over the course of a number of competitions earlier this year, Mr Barnard stared at her, followed her, took photos and yelled out while she was competing.

Giving evidence in the Downing Centre Local Court today, Odette's mother, Emma Snazelle, said that, during a qualifying competition in February, he had set up directly behind her with "an enormously big scope" - a device used to see the score registered by each arrow.

"Every time Odette shot an arrow, he would make a noise ... it was a 'hmmmm, hmmmm', " Mrs Snazelle told the court, giving the words a low, grunt-like quality.

"I stepped up to him and asked him what he was doing and why he was there ... I asked him why is he doing this?"

Mr Barnard reportedly answered, variously, "I'm watching archery" or "no comment".

"Then he said that he would be everywhere that Odette would be," Mrs Snazelle said.

This interaction was one of a series of confrontations between Mr Barnard and Mrs Snazelle and her husband Noel, the court heard. This included a face-to-face confrontation mid-field.

But Mr Barnard denies that he tried to intimidate his daughter's rival or her parents.

Counsel for Mr Barnard accused Mrs Snazelle of making up or exaggerating her claims to paint Mr Barnard in a bad light.

Grunting, Stalking Claims Levelled As AVO Sought In Olympic Archery Fight