AVO dismissed against Olympic archer's dad

6 Jul 2012, 6:55 pm   -   Source: AAP
A father accused of stalking his daughter's Olympic archery rival has had his AVO dismissed. (AAP)

A father accused of stalking his daughter's Olympic archery rival has had his AVO dismissed. (AAP)

A magistrate has dismissed a restraining order against an Olympic archer's father accused of stalking his daughter's rival.

A magistrate has dismissed a restraining order against a father accused of stalking his daughter's Olympic archery rival, describing the matter as a "tit for tat" between two warring families.

Jonathan Barnard, 56, had been accused of harassing his daughter Elisa's competitor for a place in Australia's Olympic team during several archery qualifying events in January and February this year.

Odette Snazelle, 18, said Mr Barnard followed her around, positioned himself behind her as she shot and blocked her entrance to the bathroom.

Ms Snazelle took out an interim apprehended violence order (AVO) earlier this year against Mr Barnard, preventing him from coming within 200 metres of her.

In Downing Centre Local Court on Friday, Magistrate Lee Gilmour dismissed the application, saying she could not rule that Mr Barnard's "intentions were to harass and/or intimidate" Ms Snazelle.

Earlier, the court heard that Ms Snazelle's mother, Emma Snazelle, had confronted Mr Barnard at an event on February 5 and told him that his behaviour was upsetting her daughter.

On February 19, Barnard again attended an event at which Ms Snazelle was competing, despite the fact his own daughter was not.

In giving evidence on Friday, Mr Barnard said his motivation for attending was to scrutinise the "operation of qualifying events for the Olympic Games".

However, Ms Gilmour said Mr Barnard was aware that his behaviour was having a negative effect on Ms Snazelle.

"I don't accept his presence at the meetings on February 5 and February 19 was as innocent as he suggested," Ms Gilmour said.

Odette Snazelle told an earlier AVO hearing that Mr Barnard positioned himself five metres behind her while she was shooting at several events in Sydney.

She also said Mr Barnard followed her around and watched her competing during a two-day event at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra on February 28 and 29.

"It's not normal for someone to position themselves and stare at someone for a whole event," Snazelle said.

"I felt scared and intimidated and put off (my game)."

Ms Gilmour said she would not pass judgment on every matter that had been flagged between the Barnard and Snazelle families as that would provide more "ammunition" for the family feud.

However, she said Mr Barnard's conduct was "insufficient" to warrant a restraining order and dismissed the matter.

"In this case there was evidence of factional rivalry and tit-for-tat complaints and allegations," she said.

Elisa Barnard qualified for the Australian Olympic archery team in June while Ms Snazelle is one of the squad's reserves.

Outside court, Emma Snazelle said Mr Barnard's conduct was responsible for her daughter failing to qualify for the Olympic team.

"It has definitely cost her a spot," she said.

She said Mr Barnard's actions were "shameful" and "un-Australian".

Also outside court, Elisa Barnard said she was glad her father's name had been cleared and she was now looking forward to representing Australia in London.

"This ordeal put a great amount of unnecessary stress on me and my family and consumed a great amount of time during a period when all my energy should have been focused on my Olympic preparation," she said.

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