Entertainment
Dance Monkey star Tones and I and husband fined $25,000 over illegal home renovation in Australia-Danni Scott-Entertainment – Metro
The couple have been handed a hefty fine.
Tones and I was fined over illegal renovation (Picture: realestate.com.au/Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
Tones and I, real name Toni Watson, and her husband Jimmy Bedford have been fined for not obtaining proper permits when renovating.
Watson, who is best known for song Dance Monkey, was not present in court when the council levelled multiple accusations at both her company and Bedford, who she married earlier this year.
Melbourne council brought the charges forward after renovation began on the couple’s Frankston property.
An interior wall had been demolished and a porch and deck were being built without the proper permits.
Bedford appeared without his wife in court on Monday as he pleaded guilty to failing to obtain permits and was handed down a personal fine of $5,000 by Magistrate Charles Tan.
The property was purchased by Watson’s company Johnny Run Away which meant it faced up to a $225,000 fine, however, only $20,000 was ordered.
The renovation didn’t go quite to plan as the couple were handed a fine (Picture: realestate.com.au)
Watson and Bedford were wed in a secret Bali ceremony (Picture: @tonesandi/@jimmybedd/Instagram)
All personal charges against Watson were dropped but the council had called for a ‘substantial fine’ for the company.
The three-bedroom house and one-bedroom bungalow on the site had been purchased for $720,000 in 2020.
Frankston City Council prosecutor Bruce Gardiner argued that the situation was aggravated when the couple failed to stop work, despite being asked to.
‘The accused were found to be in breach of the legislation and were ordered to stop work for safety reasons and they continued to work and they put a tenant inside the house for a period of 12 months and that grossly aggravates the offending,’ Mr Gardiner said.
He was not impressed with Bedford, revealing that the 31-year-old had operated a bricklaying company so should know the rules.
‘To suggest that the accused had no knowledge of building permits and the like, he said during the interview that he owned a bricklaying company for 10 years and I submit that one cannot possibly own a bricklaying company for 10 years and be engaged in building and be unaware of the requirements when taking walls out of the inside of houses,’ Mr Gardiner said, according to the Daily Mail.
Watson didn’t appear in court (Picture: Jimmy Bedford/Instagram)
Tones And I won the Most Performed Pop Work Award in 2021 (Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)
The court heard that Bedford had been ‘too busy’ to deal with the permits and had told investigators he had been given permission to renovate by his famous wife.
Mr Gardiner said: ‘He stated: “Between us we renovated the house”.’
The couple’s barrister Sam Bird argued the company ‘wasn’t trading’ and the works had been found to be compliant with regulations, which the council refuted.
‘To suggest that the works hadn’t been found structurally inadequate is against the surveyor’s report that I read from during the summary and it says that existing internal load bearing walls were removed and the existing deck and verandah framing appeared to be structurally inadequate,’ said Mr Gardiner.
Watson has not publically addressed the court case, instead, she shared a picture of her APRA Music Award for most performed Australian work abroad.
The award was for 19 times platinum single Dance Monkey, which catapulted the Aussie singer to fame.
Metro has reached out to Tones and I’s reps for comment.
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