Former soap star turned political activist Damien Richardson has avoided jail after performing a Nazi gesture.
The 57-year-old former actor, known for his roles including on Neighbours and City Homicide, threw his arm in the air while speaking at a nationalist event at a restaurant in 2024.
During his speech to a crowd of about 90, the twice-failed political candidate railed against cultural topics including the “war on men”, “transsexual agenda” and “wokism” at the event, organised by the National Workers Alliance on September 14.
During a riff where he complained about being likened to Adolf Hitler in an article by The Age newspaper, Richardson threw his right arm into the air to applause from the crowd.
“Yep, that guy. Are you allowed to do that? Am I allowed to do that? … Am I gonna be fined? Am I gonna go to jail for five years? Oh, Richardson did the salute,” he said.
Richardson was found guilty of performing a banned gesture that resembled a Nazi salute late last year and was placed on a 12-month undertaking to be of good behaviour.
A condition of his sentence was to complete a restorative justice program created by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which included therapy, an apology and learning about the holocaust.
Richardson, who was a prominent figure in the anti-vaccine mandate movement, appealed his conviction and sentence to the County Court where he was again found guilty earlier this year following a two-day hearing.
He returned to court on Thursday morning, alongside about two dozen supporters, where he was sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order, ordered to complete 100 hours of unpaid community work, and agreed to visit Melbourne Holocaust Museum.
Handing down the sentence, Judge Kate Hawkins said Richardson’s political rhetoric was not the reason he was before the court.
“Whether or not you hold any sympathy with Nazi ideology is irrelevant,” she said.
“This offence arises because of the actions you performed in performing the gesture, not your political views.”
The court was told Richardson refused to undertake the restorative justice program and an assessment by Corrections Victoria found it would be of little use given his political views were entrenched.
He had also continued to make statements justifying his actions as in “jest”.
The court was told Richardson had complained to Corrections Victoria that there was a “conspiracy to cancel him because of his political beliefs”.
Judge Hawkins said Richardson’s sentence should send a message to the community that Nazi salutes are offensive, harmful and against the law.
At the end of the hearing, Judge Hawkins asked Richardson if he had any questions.
“No Your Honour, it’s just this gesture…,” he began to say, before the judge shut him down, remarking; “this is not an opportunity for a speech”.