- Sports reporter has been suspended by employers
- Footage of altercation went viral on Sunday
- Do you know more? Email tita.smith@mailonline.com
Police have charged a man who was allegedly involved in a fight with footy journalist Paul Kent in Sydney’s inner west recently.
Footage that went viral on social media on Sunday showed Kent and another man arguing outside the Three Weeds hotel in Rozelle before the altercation became physical.
Kent has been suspended from his roles with Fox Sports and the Daily Telegraph while his employers investigate the incident.
Kent (pictured in footage of the alleged fight) has been stood down from his jobs with Fox Sports and the Daily Telegraph while his employers investigate the alleged incident
The footage shows Kent (centre) crashing head-first into the gutter after allegedly being thrown into a tree outside a pub in Sydney’s inner west
A 35-year-old man was taken to Newtown police station in the city’s inner west on Sunday night and charged with affray after officers launched an investigation when they became aware of the video.
He was given conditional bail and is set to face court in June.
In the clip, Kent can be heard calling the other man a ‘doghead’ before they allegedly get into a physical clash that spills across the road from the venue.
The footage shows the 54-year-old allegedly being thrown into a tree and landing head-first in the gutter before picking himself up off the ground.
Other men could be seen trying to intervene in the alleged clash.
Kent, who was stood down by the broadcaster for nine months after being charged with assaulting and choking his ex-girlfriend, had only been reinstated as a co-host of Fox’s NRL 360 show in February after being acquitted in court.
In a statement to Daily Mail Australia on Sunday, a spokesperson for Fox Sports and The Daily Telegraph said: ‘Fox Sports presenter and News Corp Australia columnist Paul Kent has been stood down pending an immediate investigation.’
On Sunday the 54-year-old was visited by an entourage of friends and a doctor in images exclusively captured by Daily Mail Australia, with his mates staging a bizarre diversion to help him evade media waiting outside his $2.35million home.
A doctor carrying medical equipment (pictured) was seen leaving Kent’s house on Sunday
One friend who appeared to be pretending to be an injured Kent (pictured) to help the commentator flee the home via a back laneway
Kent’s friends ushered the medic, who was carrying a stethoscope and bag filled with medical supplies, into the property via a back laneway when he arrived.
Around 40 minutes later, one of the men – who had been observed walking into the home perfectly fine – exited the home limping with a shirt covering his head to hide his face – in what appeared to be a bid to pretend he was Kent.
He then erected a wooden board in the narrow passageway that runs alongside the property to obscure the view of the back garage door, which opens into a rear laneway.
The man then began limping at a glacial pace up the passageway towards reporters, before getting half way then turning back towards the house.
Aware the odd ploy was a decoy, reporters raced around to the back laneway, where Kent was spotted being spirited away from the scene in the passenger’s seat of a friend’s ute.
The Fox Sports star had only returned to work on the NRL 360 show in February after being found not guilty of assaulting his ex-girlfriend (Kent is pictured attending a Sydney court when the case was being heard last year)
After Kent left, his supporters slowly began trickling out of the property themselves.
Two friends said Kent was doing ‘good’ but would not comment on what caused the fight.
One of the men joked that Kent had left home to go to the Garry Owen Hotel – a pub the commentator frequents in Rozelle – to ‘have a drink’.
Another friend who visited the home told Daily Mail Australia Kent was ‘doing ok’ but was ‘sick of being called names’ by ‘people in the street’ who had heard about the melee.
‘He’s just a bit sore,’ the man said.
‘He’d like some privacy.’
