No conviction over synagogue incident

One of two French nationals charged after an imitation firearm was pointed at a Sydney synagogue has avoided conviction, after telling a court he was unaware the premises was a place of worship.

Uber Eats driver Merouan Ameye, 25, pleaded guilty at Downing Centre Local Court on Monday to possessing an imitation pistol, over the incident at Chabad Double Bay on July 4, the Wentworth Courier reported. He was sentenced by Judge Marguerite Vassall to a 12-month conditional release order and was not convicted.

According to agreed facts tendered by police, Ameye was driving the car delivering food in the eastern suburbs at about noon when his co-accused and hostel roommate, 22-year-old Neils Baholet, was playing with the imitation pistol inside the vehicle. Baholet had earlier sprayed pedestrians with the water pistol, described in court documents as resembling a Glock.

The documents state Baholet waved the gun towards a Community Security Group (CSG) volunteer, imitating a shooting action. The CSG volunteer contacted police, who located the pair in Kings Cross and seized the imitation firearm from their car.

The agreed facts recorded that Ameye was “unaware of the premises being a Jewish synagogue and the current circumstances of antisemitism relating to the Jewish community”, and that he did not witness his co-accused point the gun at the synagogue. He acquired the water pistol with Baholet from the common room of their Glebe hostel. Ameye arrived in Australia in January 2025 on a working holiday visa.