Shire star arrested over gay attack
Stars of the reality TV show The Shire have been charged after an alleged incident in which a man was urinated on and subjected to gay slurs.
The alleged assault took place on Thursday night last week, just off Sydney’s Oxford St.
Shire star Daniel Folkes, 24, and two other men aged 28 and 27, approached a man on Riley Street in Surry Hills.
The man alleged the three then verbally assaulted him with homophobic insults while one urinated on him.
He alerted police who then located the trio who had fled to the intersection of Riley and Oxford Sts.
Police asked the men to move on but they refused and became verbally abusive, resulting in Folkes and the 28-year-old man being arrested. Police said the 27-year-old man complied with their request to move on.
Police allege that Folkes and the other man, also believed to be a cast member of The Shire, both resisted arrest and that Folkes boasted of his fame from appearing in the Channel Ten program.
Folkes was charged with offensive behaviour, offensive language and resisting arrest.
The 28-year-old was issued a criminal infringement notice for offensive language and failing to comply with a police order to move on.
He was bailed to appear before Downing Centre Local Court on September 17 2012.
A spokeswoman for Ten and the production company behind The Shire, Shine, said she was unable to comment as it was a police matter.
Footage of two other female cast members in an alleged knife fight outside Rhodes Shopping Centre emerged earlier this month.