A MAGISTRATE has freed on bail a surfer charged with the most serious Cronulla riot offences so far, while in an adjacent courtroom his colleague kept an accused rioter behind bars for fear he might reoffend.

Troy William Dennehy, 34, a Cronulla surfer, allegedly took part in a mob attack on December 11 on two men, Navid Fazlul and Shafi Muheeb, who were pelted with bottles while driving through Cronulla and were forced to flee their vehicle.

Dennehy, a tradesman, also took part in an attack on another man, Safi Merhi, Sutherland Local Court heard yesterday.