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Tighe said that Teplin then “had an interaction with some AFP officers at the airport”, seeking to speak to the officers who had kicked him off the flight the previous day.
During the ensuing physical altercation Teplin was “detained physically by two AFP officers” and taken to the ground. An officer’s gun was unintentionally fired, hitting a cafe counter but not injuring anyone.
Tighe told the court that an AFP officer had been unable to determine “who or what was responsible for the discharging of the firearm”.
Teplin was taken to Mascot police station and charged with obstructing a Commonwealth official and causing an airport disturbance. He was granted conditional bail and dropped off at a nearby train station.
Instead of making his way home, he “secured drugs” and embarked on an assault rampage at Central Station, the court heard.
Tighe submitted the “significant, traumatic incident” at the airport had aggravated his mental health issues and caused a substance relapse for the recovering drug addict.
At about 4.30pm – amid a crowd of passengers – Teplin ran towards an unsuspecting man and punched him to the ground, leaving him with a bleeding nose and bruised eye.
Then he swung his right hand into the jaw of a man who was walking past platforms 18 and 19.
As a witness called Triple Zero, Teplin lunged at a third person and swung at his head. Surrounding commuters immediately feared for their safety, the court heard.
Another man was attacked when Teplin made his way to a taxi rank at Haymarket, grabbing his shoulder from behind and forcefully pulling him towards him.
By this point, police had arrived and they rushed to stop the assault but Teplin refused to co-operate, Donnelly said while summarising the police fact sheet.
Teplin was eventually handcuffed and taken to a police station, where he pushed a constable in the chest.
Australian Federal Police at Sydney Domestic Airport following the incident.Credit: Sam Mooy
He was charged with resisting a police officer and assaulting a police officer, affray, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and two counts of common assault. He was again granted bail and later pleaded guilty to the charges.
The police prosecutor argued the magistrate should place little weight on Teplin’s letter of remorse, saying a Department of Communities and Justice report noted he “demonstrated little accountability and limited reflexivity into the impact on his victims” and that the “traumatic, shocking” incident at Sydney Airport was of his own making.
“Because of that incident he then purchases drugs, which leads to the train station assaults,” the prosecutor said.
Donnelly said the defence submission that Teplin was under a “drug-induced psychosis” at the time did not reduce his moral culpability.
“These were random attacks on members of the public, committed with a high degree of violence,” he said.
Ultimately, Donnelly sentenced Teplin to 20 months’ prison with a non-parole period of 13 months.
Following the sentence, Tighe applied for a non-publication order preventing reporting of Teplin’s name and the sentencing outcome, arguing it may prejudice a potential future trial for the Commonwealth airport charges.
However, executive counsel for this masthead Larina Alick successfully argued the local court was powerless to rule on that point and that there had already been extensive media coverage on the matters.
As Teplin was handcuffed and taken into custody, his partner cried and told him she loved him.
Teplin is yet to plead on the Commonwealth charges and will face court at a later date.
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