Witnesses will be granted anonymity when giving evidence against a woman alleged to have made antisemitic comments at a children's netball game in Sydney out of concern for their safety.
A local court judge has granted the non-publication order over the names of a handful of attendees at the netball game, some of whom are Jewish, who will be called to give evidence for the prosecution case.
Jody Scarcella, 43, has been charged with using offensive language in or near a school after allegedly making antisemitic comments following a confrontation with younger girls at the Heffron Park netball courts in Maroubra in May.
The prosecution will allege as she walked away from the confrontation, she used words to the effect of "f***ing Jews" and "they should all be eradicated".
Ms Scarcella has pleaded not guilty and her lawyer Paul McGirr labelled the charge sheet "a creative writing piece" and the case as "hearsay" in court on Thursday.
The alleged incident took place in May at Heffron Park in Maroubra. (ABC News: Thorsten Joses)
Prosecutors asked the court earlier this week to grant a suppression and non-publication order over the names of civilian witnesses, who were present on the day, out of concern for their safety.
The court heard some of those witnesses were Jewish.
An 'extraordinary situation', says judge
The prosecution's application for suppression was supported by an affidavit from the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ).
Mr McGirr opposed the application and told the court the ECAJ was "not a dictatorship" and that none of the witnesses the prosecution was seeking to keep anonymous had expressed any concern with being identified.
"What the author of that document says doesn't stand for all parties," he said.
"It doesn't work that way."
Paul McGirr spoke outside court. (ABC News)
Judge Michael Barko said it was the first time in his 40 years in the criminal justice system that he was being asked to place a suppression or non-publication order over a group of people because of their religion or culture.
But he said there had been an "inundation of adverse criticism" against the Jewish community in particular in the past three years.
"It's really an extraordinary situation which we find ourselves in in this day and age,"
he said.
He granted the request for a non-publication order, but not a suppression order, over the names and identities of the civilian witnesses for two years.
In making the order, Judge Barko said he did not believe his decision would obstruct open justice, because the witnesses would still be able to be questioned in open court — just not named in public.
A spokesperson for the ECAJ declined to comment on the matter.
Outside court, Mr McGirr said his client too had been targeted since being charged.
"Interestingly the police never made an application on behalf of my client who has been harassed, lost her job, had her vehicle damaged."
The court heard the maximum penalty for the charge is a $660 fine, or a community corrections order for someone who had a history of similar behaviour.
