A Tasmanian man representing himself in court over allegations of domestic violence against his then-wife has cross-examined his own former psychologist, who first alerted police to the incident.
WARNING: This article contains graphic details of an alleged domestic violence assault.
Daniel Victor Gandini, who does not recognise that name and prefers to be known as Diplomat Dan or simply Dan, is on trial in the Supreme Court charged with three counts of assault allegedly committed against his ex-wife at Port Sorell on July 7 and 8, 2021.
He is also charged with four unlawful acts intended to cause bodily harm for allegedly throwing a corrosive acid at police officers attempting to arrest him later on July 8.
Not guilty pleas have been entered to the charges under the name Daniel Victor Gandini, but the accused said, “I’m Diplomat Dan, a different name to the one on the indictment”.
He is representing himself in the trial.
On Wednesday, the jury heard police arrived at Port Sorell at about 10am on July 8, 2021, and Dan’s psychologist Michael Marriott said there was an “enormous number of police” on site at 8pm that night.
Giving evidence on Wednesday, Dan’s former partner told the jury Mr Marriott was one of the first people she called on that day, and he advised her to call police.
Defence lawyer Kirsten Abercromby was appointed by the court to question the alleged victim as defendants cannot legally cross-examine family violence complainants.
Asking questions provided by Dan, Ms Abercromby suggested the woman used their two children to “leverage” control over Dan and had isolated them from him.
“No, he’s done that himself,” the woman told the court.
“The only thing I’m doing is protecting my children from further trauma they’ve been subjected to at the hands of their father.”
She said that by July 7, 2021, she had “endured years of abuse at the hands of Daniel”, had “loved and supported him”, but ultimately decided to leave the relationship.
But when the violence allegedly escalated the following morning, she first called Mr Marriott, who told the court she was “reluctant” to call triple-0.
Mr Marriott said he first spoke to her at about 9am that day, advised her to call triple-0 and then called Devonport police himself.
That phone call was played to the jury, and in it Mr Marriott tells the operator Dan had “lost the plot” and that the complainant had told him Dan had armed himself with knives.
He said he was asked by police to travel to Port Sorell that night and arrived at about 8pm to see “it was a much larger issue than I anticipated”.
“There were an alarming number of police officers there,” he said, adding that he spoke with police who were continuing to negotiate with Dan.
Cross-examining Mr Marriott himself, Dan suggested it was his choice of words that had caused such a significant police response.
The alleged victim previously said the accused had told her he would “blow up the house” if police attempted to arrest him, which she also told police on the day, but Dan described this as a “bomb hoax”.
Dan began to accuse Mr Marriott of breaching patient confidentiality, grooming clients and discussing delusions, treatments and various psychological conditions including narcissistic personality disorder.
Mr Marriott noted that Dan’s identity had been discussed on multiple occasions in their psychology sessions in recent years.
“Your discussion about names is a peculiarity of your own making. It is not rational, and you seem to have several identities,” Mr Marriott said.
They also discussed a video Dan had shared on TikTok in which he made serious accusations about Mr Marriott, which the psychologist said were “defamatory”.
He also said Dan had sent him an invoice for $7.2 million, with Mr Marriott responding by filing a restraining order.
Dan said the invoice was for the “fair” amount of $10,000 per hour, but it was not clear what service he claimed to have rendered.
Mr Marriott also appeared bemused when asked to read from an affidavit the accused had written, in which he said “we are a vibrational identity”.
“You’re saying we’re not a vibrational frequency on a quantum level? You don’t understand quantum mechanics?” Dan asked.
“I have read this affidavit, but I certainly don’t understand it,” Mr Marriott said.
He also asked the psychologist to clarify whether he, Diplomat Dan, was alive or dead.
“You’re very much alive,” Mr Marriott said.
The trial is expected to hear from dozens of police officers who attended the incident on the day, including those allegedly splashed with acid.
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