Ex-Sydney councilor Sam Einfeld walks from court after violent assault on 82-year-old woman

A former Sydney councilor who violently assaulted an elderly widow in her home has walked free from court after being ordered to serve his sentence in the community.

Sam Einfeld, 45, was sentenced to a year and nine months intensive corrections order for the attack on Margot Priday, 82, just days after he was convicted of two other offenses of common assault against his own elderly mother and another woman. .

At today’s District Court sentencing hearing for the assault on Ms Priday, Judge Jennie Girdham told the court she had imposed a three-year sentence but reduced it to one year and nine months to recount his time in prison and in a rehabilitation center. .

She told the court that Einfeld was “severely impaired” by his addiction to prescription drugs at the time of the crime, which “substantially reduced” his “moral culpability.”

Judge Girdham told the court he had good prospects of rehabilitation.

“(The) offense represents a terrible event which caused substantial harm to a vulnerable victim,” he told the court.

“The court appreciates why she (the victim) is still afraid of him.

“I accept his expression of great shame … it is both contrite and remorseful.”

The court heard that Einfeld has undergone intensive rehabilitation treatment for his addiction.

“Violent, senseless and unprovoked” attack.

Ms Priday was left with cuts, bruises and a broken finger after Einfeld rammed her car through the garage door of her Surry Hills home in April 2022.

The former Waverley councilor and lawyer then attacked the 82-year-old as she lay on the ground.

Ms. Priday and her daughter Polly Priday told ABC News in April that they wanted Einfeld to close again because they feared for their safety.

In a victim impact statement read by her daughter in court beforehand, Ms Priday said the “violent, senseless and unprovoked” attack on her “changed my life forever”.

“The memory of fear and sheer terror of wondering if I was about to die.

“I’m scared. I really fear for my life and safety and haunted by the possibility of another assault.”

Judge Girdham today ordered that Einfeld must also complete 240 hours of community service during the period of his intensive corrections order, which begins today.

Einfeld chased an old woman around the house

Cell phone footage obtained by ABC News showed the moments after Einfeld, who was a longtime friend of the Priday family, crashed his car into their property.

He can be heard shouting “I see you” and “How dare you” as he entered his home, prompting Mrs Priday to scream.

Einfeld then chased the elderly widow around the house and kicked her repeatedly as she lay on the floor.

He later fled back through the garage, where footage showed him trying to get into the car before getting out and handing himself over to police.

He pleaded guilty to breaking and entering in order to commit a serious offence, which was the assault on Ms Priday.

She had been friends with Einfeld’s mother for a long time and had known him since he was a baby.

Before the assault on Ms Priday, Einfeld lived with her elderly mother, who had dementia.

Einfeld was a promising graduate of a prestigious Sydney private school before being elected to Waverley Council in 1999, becoming one of the youngest local government representatives in the country.

Earlier this year, he also pleaded guilty to two separate counts of common assault against Polly Priday and his own elderly mother.

He was sentenced earlier this month to a 12-month probation order for those offences.