‘I would never hurt anybody’: gunman’s plea

A gunman accused of terrifying a sleepy Wollongong suburb later told police he never meant to hurt anyone and couldn’t remember the dramatic incident, a court has heard.

Simon Fleming, 41, is standing trial in the NSW Supreme Court after being arrested following an armed stand-off with police at Windang, on the southern end of Wollongong, in November 2021.

He has pleaded not guilty to committing a terrorist act after allegedly firing a rifle into the air and taking two men hostage at a local dive shop.

The Crown prosecution alleges he was inspired by right-wing extremist ideology, with the court told he was found in possession of a USB containing a manifesto titled “the fuse” when he was arrested.

The court was told Mr Fleming would raise a defence of mental health impairment and his legal team would argue he did not have an understanding of the events.

The jury has been told Mr Fleming was carrying a fake bomb and took two men hostage at a dive shop before surrendering.

The jury was on Wednesday read witness statements and heard triple-0 calls from residents who described being terrified and fearing for their lives.

The court also heard the workers and customers at a nearby cafe ran out the back door and jumped a fence to escape.

The court was told Mr Fleming had been prescribed antipsychotic medication including, Oxycodone and Valium.

Crown prosecutor James Renwick SC told the jury that on the Friday before the incident, Mr Fleming took three days’ worth of medication.

He attempted to get a top-up on his prescription from a chemist on the Sunday morning – the day of the stand-off – however was told that he would have to wait until Monday.

The jury was on Thursday played a video of his interview with police hours after he surrendered.

He told two officers his medication no longer worked and he often took several days’ worth at once.

But by Sunday, he was going through opioid withdrawal.

He told officers he could only remember “flashes” between leaving home at 9am and his arrest about 90 minutes later.

“I said I’m not going to sit here and withdraw and have my head in the toilet for 18 hours. So I’m out of here,” Mr Fleming said in his police interview.

“I don’t remember anything after that until you (the police) had me on the concrete.”

He told police he remembered telling his family “see ya” as he left his Windang home.

“I was never going to hurt anybody. And I told them right before I left, I said I’m not going to harm anyone,” he said.

“Mum said ‘but they’ll kill you’. I said ‘if that’s the way that ends, that’s the way it ends’.

“But I made sure I told them I would never hurt anybody. I would never, I’m a Christian.”

The court was told Mr Fleming collected Nazi and Second World War memorabilia and police found a Swastika flag when they raided his home.

Mr Fleming explained to officers that the flag wasn’t “political” and “was just cool to look at”, arguing it was no different to Portuguese, Spanish and Australian military paraphernalia which he also owned.

When police emptied Mr Fleming’s pockets following his arrest, they found 48 bullets and a blue USB, which contained his manifesto.

Police were also able to recover from the USB another two documents, which had been deleted, including his plan for another attack that featured having a “last meal” at KFC and taking hostages at a McDonald’s, the court was told.

In his manifesto, Mr Fleming railed against immigration levels, the decline of “Western Christian culture”, “moral decay”, feminism and transgender people.

“All college/university and jobs go to Asian and Middle Eastern immigrants,” Mr Fleming said in his manifesto,” the court was told.

“I always walk around and see Muslims and Jews with more than one wife on his arm, with more than one home, with more than one business and here I am.

“I can’t even rent a house and no girl or woman will even look at me because I don’t have enough money for her.”

He also said “cultural Marxism” was equivalent to “white genocide”.

The manifesto also made references to “big pharma”, experiments which he believed “big tech” was conducting on the public and conspiracies about plans to “create an AI-hybrid breakaway civilisation”.

The trial continues.