Prominent sports journalist Paul Kent has revealed how a row over a wine bottle helped fuel accusations of explosive domestic violence.
The rugby league presenter faced the Downing Center Local Court on Tuesday as he fights allegations he assaulted and strangled his former partner.
Police allege the 53-year-old attacked his then-girlfriend following a domestic disturbance at his Lilyfield home in Sydney's west in May.
Mr Kent told the court on Tuesday that he did not strangle the woman but admitted to a physical “struggle” over the sportscaster's mobile phone.
Kent (pictured outside court in Sydney on Tuesday) made surprising claims about the advice he received from a police officer in the aftermath of the alleged incident
The high-profile footy pundit told the court an argument between him and his ex-girlfriend turned into a 'struggle' when she took his mobile phone
Mr Kent said he was writing a column in his office when his CCTV alerted him that the woman he had separated from the night before had entered his garden.
Confronting her in the hallway, Mr Kent said the woman demanded to see his phone 'for answers' after she called him 'too cowardly' to answer her text messages.
Mr Kent told the court he told the woman there was 'nothing to worry about' and ordered her to leave the house before grabbing his phone from his desk.
According to Mr Kent, a physical friction occurred between the pair, who lifted the woman to spin her around and tried to snatch the phone from her hands.
After ending up on the ground struggling for the phone, Mr Kent said the woman accused him of choking and assaulting her and said she would call the police.
Under cross-examination, Mr Kent was asked by the prosecutor about the relationship between the two, which he described as 'categorized by mistrust'.
Kent claimed his ex Lucy Kennedy (pictured) became angry when she saw a bottle of prosecco in his fridge and demanded to know who it belonged to
The Daily Telegraph and Fox Sports host told the court he believed the couple had largely separated before she called him the day before the alleged incident.
'She asked if she could come over for a hug. “I said, 'I don't think that's a good idea'… we kept talking and she cried some more,” Mr Kent said.
The Fox host said he relented and told the woman to come over before the pair had sex. Afterwards, he said she became enraged after opening the refrigerator.
'She saw a bottle of prosecco in the fridge. She said, 'who the fuck does this belong to?' I had no idea…I said, 'What are you talking about?'” Mr. Kent said.
Mr Kent said he had invited staff from a nearby hotel to his home the Saturday before, but had forgotten the wine bottle from a previous occasion.
After revealing to the woman the names of who had come to the house, Mr Kent said he decided to end the relationship, saying: 'I've had enough'.
“This shows me that (the relationship) isn't going to work. I'm ready. I want you to leave. I know we've done this before, but this is it. We're ready,” he said.
Mr Kent said he felt “relief” after the break-up, and continued to ignore text messages and calls from the woman until late in the evening.
The court was told Mr Kent also told the woman they were 'done' in March, before she stayed at his home again in April 2023.
The former Fox Sports TV star (pictured, centre, outside court on Tuesday) told the court that a police officer advised him shortly after his arrest to refuse to be interviewed by other officers.
Mr Kent also told the court about a previous argument in August 2022, when he said the woman fled into the street after an argument with his phone.
The sports reporter further indicated that after his arrest and while awaiting transportation to the police station, an officer told him that the woman's case was “weak.”
“At one point an officer opened the door and said, 'I can't give you legal advice, but when they get you into the station they'll ask you three things,'” he said.
“They will ask: if you want to be interviewed, say no; If you strangled her, say no. They will also ask you if you assaulted her, say no.”
“If you say no to all three of these things, they will probably let you go because her (the woman's) case is weak.” Then I said, 'Thank you.'
During the second and final day of the hearing, the court also heard evidence from a physiotherapist who reported 'yellowish' bruising around the woman's neck.
“There was evidence of trauma given the yellowish bruising and swelling and the physical neck presentation of reduced range of motion,” said physiotherapist Stuart McKay.
'My conclusion was that the injury was the result of trauma to the neck. I can't say whether that is strangulation. But it was consistent with trauma to the neck.”
The 53-year-old appeared in court charged with common assault and strangling a person without consent over the alleged incident in May this year
On Monday, the court was shown body-worn footage of both Mr Kent and the woman, who told officers the Fox host had his hands “around her throat”.
'I didn't expect this to happen. I don't want to ruin his life… He's done this before and I gave him a second chance,” the woman said.
Mr Kent claimed he woke up to an alert on his CCTV that the woman had entered his house through the back door after the couple had split up the night before.
'I didn't hit her. “I didn't hit her… She wasn't in danger… The only time I touched her was to try to get my phone back,” Mr Kent said.
He then accused the woman, Lucy Kennedy, of threatening to call the police in the past, which could impact his employment.
During the footage, a man identifying himself as 'Kent's boss at Fox Sports' arrived and spoke to officers on the scene.
Mr Kent was arrested at the scene before being taken to a nearby police station and charged with common assault and choking a person without consent.
A third charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm was added by police in November. Mr Kent has pleaded not guilty to all three charges.
