The police applied for an Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) after I was assaulted last year. So far the Geezer’s lawyers have argued it is not a “real” application, but a tactic of the succession wars. So far the Magistrate has allowed the Geezer to give undertakings not to contact me without lawyers. That lacks the strength of an AVO.

After the assault matter was heard (he pled guilty, no conviction recorded) a date was set to hear the AVO application.Next week we’re in court. I don’t think the Magistrate will grant the application – the Geezer has stuck to the letter of his undertakings – so why go through with the application? I prefer to focus on the fights I can win. If an order is not made the Geezer will probably feel he “won” that fight.

On the other hand the AVO complaint is because there are fears that the Geezer ”may physically hurt, or harass, intimidate, or molest or stalk” me. My staff hate me working late alone. My family get nervous about threats that have been made against me. I know the Geezer would go for round 2 if there were no witnesses around.

But do I want to go through the pain of proving on the balance of probabilities that I fear the Geezer and those fears are reasonable.

The most annoying thing about the matter is that AVO’s were created for circumstances like these. They should be almost automatic. But a good lawyer can make voodoo happen. That reminds me that I saw Chicago (with Rene Zellweger, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Richard Gere) on Monday night.