Singer Kamahl was at his lowest point when he sent allegedly threatening messages to a woman over an unpaid $2000 loan, a Sydney court has been told.
A magistrate dismissed a charge of intimidation against the 89-year-old at Sutherland Local Court today, ruling the matter should be dealt with on mental health grounds.
Kandiah Kamalesvaran, better known by his stage name, was charged after allegedly sending several messages that included a threat to strangle a woman with whom he had previously been friends.
When the woman was asked to repay the loan, she responded with claims Kamahl molested her, which prompted the singer to react the way he did, the court was told.
The woman had offered to repay her debt to Kamahl in weekly $5 installments, the court heard, sending the first payment with the description: “To the molester.”
Kamahl’s lawyer Arjun Chhabra said his client had stopped taking medication for anxiety and depression at the time after being convinced by a friend to instead rely on herbal injections.
“That was plainly foolish advice from that acquaintance,” he said.
Kamahl’s daughter arrived in Australia on the day of the allegedly intimidating messages to find him and his home in a “dishevelled state”, the court was told.
She later re-established the singer’s connection with health professionals and took control of his finances, Chhabra said.
Describing the case, Magistrate Paul Lyon said Kamahl had become concerned over how he would explain the molestation claim to his daughter and estranged wife.
He then messaged the woman, calling her among other things an “ungrateful stupid bitch”, the court was told.
“He reacts impulsively,” Chhabra said.
“Then he makes the foolish, potentially criminal utterance.”
Lyon imposed an apprehended violence order on the singer for a period of two years preventing him from approaching or contacting the woman, a move agreed to by the parties.
“It’s terribly, terribly important that people, and particularly men, when they communicate with women …. do it in a respectful way,” the magistrate said.
The Malaysian-born singer rose to prominence with two charting singles in the late 1960s and mid-1970s, as well as his repeat appearances on the long-running variety show Hey Hey It’s Saturday.
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