Tear it down or go to jail: Council escalates fight with owner of unlawful Sydney mansion

On a crisp winter’s morning, the concrete-faced mansion in Sydney’s inner west looks impeccably well maintained – and that’s the problem. It should be a pile of rubble.

Two years after the NSW Land and Environment Court ordered Sarah Malass to vacate and demolish her unlawfully built Strathfield trophy home, it remains as if the orders were never issued at all.

The home stands pristine on Boden Avenue, with comings and goings day and night, according to the private detectives sent to covertly surveil it.

Now Strathfield Council has told its recalcitrant ratepayer: tear the building down or go to jail.

In a dramatic escalation of a six-year legal battle over the home, the council is seeking Malass’ imprisonment should she continue to flout the demolition orders and live unlawfully in the house with her family.

The council is also seeking the court’s permission to take matters into its own hands and carry out the demolition work itself, should Malass fail to do so.

The 38-year-old, who has told the court she is unemployed, would be saddled with the bill.

“NSW police may be present at the subject property during the carrying out of this order,” the council said in court documents obtained by this masthead.

The council has charged Malass with contempt of court, and the matter is set to go to a hearing before the Land and Environment Court on Thursday.

The court will also decide on a notice of motion filed by the council, seeking a prison sentence, lump sum fine and a continuing fine for each day Malass resides in the home with her husband, Rabi Malass, and their three school-age children.

The council said the prison sentence could be wholly suspended if Malass abides by the court’s orders within 28 days.

Malass has pleaded not guilty to the contempt charges. She told the court last July it would cost $10 million to demolish the home and rebuild it according to the plans originally approved by council.

To attempt to do so would be financially ruinous for her family, Malass said, because her husband was bankrupt, and the pair were both unemployed.

However, Land and Environment Court Judge Nicola Pain responded that it was clear that Sarah Malass had not given a “complete picture” of the couple’s financials, amid revelations a company she owned and controlled was the cash buyer of a $6.8 million Southern Highlands estate and was meeting her weekly mortgage repayments of $43,312.

The case illustrates the challenges still facing councils across the state 12 months after a Herald investigation revealed growing numbers of Sydney home owners were build