EXCLUSIVE

DRAMATIC scenes have erupted in a Sydney court when former Eastern Suburbs private schoolboy and rugby star Franklin Elmes was sent to prison in a bombshell ruling.

Magistrate Susan McIntyre delivered the prison sentence to a stunned Elmes, 18, who was supported in court by his father, acclaimed Sydney chef Darren Elmes.

As two prison guards carrying handcuffs prepared to take Elmes off to prison, the teenager tried to argue with Ms McIntyre while she delivered a stern sentencing.

The Waverley Catholic Boys’ College graduate, whose social media account is full of an idyllic life of surfing and swimming off the rocks near his North Bondi home, looked bewildered as he was cuffed and led away.

Elmes, who two years ago was scoring tries on Waverley College’s rugby tour of New Zealand, was instructed to stand up as he was sentenced for a violent attack in February.

The teenager stood, but as it became evident that Ms McIntyre was sending him to jail, he slumped back into a seat as his father urged him, “Stand up Franklin, stand up”.

Elmes, who has previously been given a good behaviour bond for driving charges but had a history of violence, clearly did not expect to be going to prison.

The part-time kitchen hand had been living with his parents and two younger brothers in the Sydney suburb of North Bondi.

He tried to interrupt Ms McIntyre telling her she “didn’t know” what she was talking about, but she immediately rebuked him, saying “don’t talk to me like that”.

Ms McIntyre told Elmes she needed to “protect the community from your rage” after his excessive consumption of alcohol.

As another defendant in court called out “go easy mate”, a dazed Elmes was taken from the court down to the holding cells below Sydney’s Downing Centre Court complex.

Elmes’ lawyer launched an immediate appeal and a bail application.

Darren Elmes, who is the executive chef at Bondi restaurant Ravesis, offered a $5000 surety for his son’s release.

But when court resumed at 2pm on Wednesday, Ms McIntyre denied Franklin Elmes’ bail in his absence.

“He has been found guilty of a very serious offence,” she said, “he has a burgeoning and difficult history of violence.”

She sentenced Elmes to three months for breaching his bond by driving while disqualified, and 12 months prison for one charge of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Police facts obtained exclusively by news.com.au reveal that Franklin Elmes has nine prior charges including affray and assault police.

Elmes, who was once a member of the Sydney Roosters junior rugby league development squad, was out drinking with six friends on February 6 when the offence occurred.

It was at around 2am in the early hours of a Monday morning and the group had left Side Bar in Sydney’s Haymarket.

They encountered another group of young people and one of Elmes’ friends asked for a cigarette.

A verbal altercation between the groups ensued, then developed into a melee of pushing and shoving which spilt onto nearby Lee Street.

It was there that Elmes ran at another man, James McDonald, and put him in a headlock.

Elmes then pulled Mr McDonald down causing him to fall backwards and hit his head on the footpath.

Elmes then kicked Mr McDonald in the head. Mr McDonald lost consciousness for a moment and bled from the nose.

As an ambulance was called and he was taken to St Vincents Hospital, police arrived to arrest Elmes, who admitted to the assault.

“Yeah I pulled him down and kicked him in the head. He was getting at us and starting s**t at the Side Bar.”

Police facts also describe the circumstances of Elmes’ arrest for driving while disqualified between 3.10am and 3.20am on December 8 last year.

Police saw a car speeding along Anzac Parade in La Perouse. When they pulled the driver to the kerb, they could smell a strong odour of cannabis.

The driver, who gave police three different names — two of which match the actual names of friends on his Facebook page — was slurring his words.

When he got out of the car, police say he was unable to keep his eyes open, could not walk without stumbling and had his jumper on inside out.

Police discovered he was Franklin Elmes and charged him. On January 18, he was given a 12 month good behaviour bond.

In court on Wednesday, Elmes’ lawyer applied for him to have mental health treatment for depression and anxiety while he is in prison.

Magistrate McIntyre fixed a non-parole period of six months which would make Elmes’ earliest possible release date October 4.