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A man accused of threatening journalist Stan Grant intends to apologise and has had some of the charges against him withdrawn.
Michael Steven Davis, 41, allegedly threatened the former host of the ABC’s Q+A program about the time the journalist announced he would be leaving the role.
Lawyer Peter Mitchell, representing Davis, told a court on Tuesday his client intended to meet Grant for the purpose of apologising.
Only one charge of using a carriage service to threaten serious harm has been maintained against Davis, while several others have been withdrawn.
The 41-year-old did not appear in person when his case was heard at Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court.
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Grant cited racial abuse as one of the reasons for stepping down as host of Q+A, using his final program in May this year to speak directly to his abusers.
“To those who have abused me and my family, I would just say — if your aim was to hurt me, well, you’ve succeeded,” he said at the time.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry that I must have given you so much cause to hate me.”
The ABC received a wave of complaints after Grant said the Crown represented the invasion and theft of Aboriginal land during TV coverage of the King’s coronation.
In May, the broadcaster’s independent ombudsman cleared it of breaching editorial standards over the segment, which garnered 1832 complaints.
ABC managing director David Anderson told a senate estimates hearing that hundreds of the complaints consisted of racist attacks.
Davis’s case will return to court on October 31.
