Former Auburn Council deputy mayor Salim Mehajer arrives at Burwood Local Court. Credit:Peter Rae "He said to me, 'who the f--- are you to talk to me' and 'what gives you the right to tell me how to use this machine'," Mr Herat said. "I said I'm just letting you know the rules and directions of the club. "He said, 'f--- you, f--- Anytime Fitness, don't you know who I am? I pay my fees'." Mr Herat said he didn't know who Mr Mehajer was at this time.

Alleged victim Bruce Herat arrives at Burwood Local Court. Credit:Peter Rae "I said I don't know who you are, tell me your name," Mr Herat said. "He said, 'I'm not telling you my name. F--- you, you piece of shit'." "I said, no problem, I'll take it up in the morning." Mr Herat said he left the club and went to the car park at about 9.40pm. He said Mr Mehajer followed him to his car and walked towards him "aggressively" before standing about six inches from his face.

"He said, 'who are you to talk to me the way you do? What gives you that right?'" "I told him I asked him not to drop his weights and I did so in a polite manner and I had told two other members the same thing [shortly beforehand]." He said Mr Mehajer agreed he had overheard Mr Herat telling two members not to drop the weights. Mr Mehajer walked away and stood about 20 to 30 metres away and yelled: "This is not the end of the matter". "He said, 'I'm going to take it further, I'm going to find out where you live motherf----r and I'm going to kidnap your children'." Mr Herat said he was "shocked" and again asked Mr Mehajer who he was.

"He said, 'my name is Salim Mehajer'." Mr Herat said the name didn't mean anything to him. Mr Herat suggested they have the conversation in front of police, to which Mr Mehajer said, "You don't want to do that. I have people inside the police, that's not the half of it." Mr Herat said he called the club's manager Elias Sodir to report the incident and then Googled Mr Mehajer's name. Mr Sodir rang back and said Mr Mehajer was the deputy mayor of Auburn and had received a lot of media coverage of his recent lavish wedding in Lidcombe. Mr Herat said the following morning he called Detective Inspector Angelo Memmolo, the officer in charge of the investigation into the December 2014 Lindt cafe siege. He knew Inspector Memmolo because his son Joel had been taken hostage during the siege.

Under cross-examination from Mr Mehajer's lawyer Richard Pontello, Mr Herat denied he was "angry" at members dropping weights in the gym. He also denied knowing who Mr Mehajer was during the confrontation, saying that while he had heard about the notorious wedding, he didn't make the connection. "I had no idea who he was at that time." He also denied telling Mr Mehajer he would cancel his Anytime Fitness membership, saying "I don't have that authority". One of the two gym members Mr Herat spoke to before the incident with Mr Mehajer, Zeehan Ahmed, gave evidence.

He said Mr Herat "told me in a very aggressive way to get off the machine" and to "stop smashing the weights". Mr Ahmed said he found Mr Herat to be aggressive because he didn't introduce himself before talking to them about the weights. The hearing continues.