A multilingual Double Bay doctor facing domestic violence charges has been asked to translate his alleged victim's French medical certificate excusing her from flying home from Europe to get in the witness box.
Lotus-driving Walid Kesserwani is the founder and CEO of Medisport Clinic in Sydney's eastern suburbs and boasts of treating professional sportspeople including NRL and AFL players.
In June last year the 44-year-old chiropractor was charged with choking and assaulting his former girlfriend Ludivine 'Ludi' Elisabeth, who runs a boutique luxury travel consultancy.
Kesserwani was due to face a hearing on Thursday at Downing Centre Local Court but it emerged Ms Elisabeth had called in sick and could not make the journey back from France.
The prosecution sought an adjournment but Kesserwani's barrister Greg Stanton objected, noting an earlier hearing date had already been vacated.
Mr Stanton questioned the reliability of Ms Elisabeth's medical certificate, which was written in French, and raised concerns about her communications with the officer-in-charge of the case.
The medical certificate stated that Ms Elisabeth was suffering from acute sinusitis - an inflammation of the tissue lining the sinuses - according to an AI-generated translation provided to the court.
'At one point, she is well and then unwell in terms of her capacity to participate in these proceedings,' Mr Stanton told Judge Christopher Halburd.
Double Bay doctor Walid Kesserwani, who is facing domestic violence charges, has had to translate his alleged victim's French medical certificate excusing her from flying home from Europe to give evidence. Kesserwani is pictured outside court on Thursday
In June last year 44-year-old Kesserwani was charged with choking and assaulting his former girlfriend Ludivine 'Ludi' Elisabeth (above), who runs a boutique luxury travel consultancy
Mr Stanton asked that Chief Inspector Gary Coffey leave the courtroom while he detailed what he later described as the officer's 'highly questionable' role leading the investigation.
The court heard that Kesserwani's legal team had sought disclosure of all communication between Chief Inspector Coffey and Ms Elisabeth and those records ran to 80 pages.
Mr Stanton said there had been phone calls between the pair lasting more than 20 minutes and conversations 'which in many respects seem to be private'.
He cited 'lengthy phone calls in the early hours of the morning' and online Teams meetings, the content of which had not been revealed to the defence.
'To be perfectly frank, we have no confidence in what has been disclosed to date,' Mr Stanton told Judge Halburd.
Mr Stanton said that in one email Chief Inspector Coffey sent Ms Elisabeth while she was overseas, he had written: 'Hope you're having a nice time in Bali.'
The Daily Mail is merely reporting what was said in court and does not suggest that Chief Inspector Coffey has acted in anything other than a professional manner.
Kesserwani was arrested in June last year, after Ms Elisabeth made a complaint to police, and took part in an electronically recorded interview to deny her allegations.
Kesserwani's barrister raised concerns about Chief Inspector Gary Coffey's communications with Ms Elisabeth, which included 'lengthy phone calls in the early hours of the morning'
A medical certificate stated Ms Elisabeth (above) was suffering from acute sinusitis - an inflammation of the tissue lining the sinuses - according to an AI-generated translation
Mr Stanton said police had indicated to Kesserwani that they did not intend to charge him based on the information available to them, but then Chief Inspector Coffey became involved.
On June 9 last year, Chief Inspector Coffey charged Kesserwani with one count of intentionally choking a person without consent and three of common assault.
The alleged choking incident took place at Barangaroo, near Darling Harbour, at about 11.30pm on July 17, 2024.
The three assault charges relate to incidents alleged to have taken place at the same location on February 13, 2025, and September 6 and December 13, 2024.
Choking a person without their consent carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. Common assault can be punished by up to two years in jail.
Mr Stanton said how and why Chief Inspector Coffey had taken charge of the investigation had 'absolutely no explanation'.
Chief Inspector Coffey was the only officer to take statements from witnesses and had been Ms Elisabeth's sole point of contact with police since the charges were laid.
'No other police have had any dealings with her,' Mr Stanton told Judge Halburd.
Kesserwani, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, was due to face a hearing in May but that did not go ahead because the allocated judge could not sit for the scheduled two days.
The Daily Mail understands that Kesserwani (above), who has a harbourfront unit at Millers Point, and Ms Elisabeth, who lives at Barangaroo, were together for about 18 months
Kesserwani (above in his $175,000 Lotus Emira) is the founder of Medisport Clinic and boasts of treating professional sportspeople, including cricketers, and NRL and AFL players
Ms Elisabeth had left court early in the day before a new date was set but was aware of Thursday's hearing.
She had booked an Emirates flight home from France to arrive on Tuesday, but on July 29 was given a medical certificate stating she could not fly for 10 days.
Mr Stanton said the prosecution had made no attempt to have the certificate formally translated, but Judge Halburd said using 'schoolboy French from 30 years ago' he could work out what it meant.
Judge Halburd then asked if Kesserwani - who speaks French and Arabic - had any issue with the AI translation after reading the original document. He did not.
A French translator who had been booked for that purpose was allowed to leave the court.
The police prosecutor said that inquiries had been made about whether Ms Elisabeth could give evidence by audio-visual link, but to organise that would take three to eight months.
Mr Stanton said his client had incurred 'significant costs' due to the first hearing being abandoned and was suffering ongoing reputational harm while the matter remained unresolved.
He said Ms Elisabeth had indicated that she would report Kesserwani to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) and his client had to regularly update other regulatory bodies about the case.
'There has to be an end to these proceedings,' Mr Stanton told the court.
In one email sent to Ms Elisabeth (above) while she was travelling, Chief Inspector Coffey had allegedly written, 'Hope you're having a nice time in Bali'
Medisport Clinic is described on its website as 'the premier destination for sports performance physiotherapy'. Kesserwani is pictured with patients who are unrelated to the allegations
Mr Stanton also resisted a request by the prosecution that the hearing commence with testimony from some of the five other witnesses due to be called.
He said it was 'critical' that Elisabeth was the first witness to give evidence due to the nature of her communications with Chief Inspector Coffey.
Judge Halburd bemoaned the case's 'unfortunate procedural history' and said he had not been advised before Thursday that there would be an application for it to be adjourned.
'This is by no means the most serious example of these types of offences that come before the court, but neither are they the most minor,' he said, after reading a statement of facts.
Judge Halburd said that in some Local Court matters, there was limited interaction between a complainant and the officer-in-charge, but this case was 'at the other end of the scale'.
'What it does show is there's been constant contact,' he said.
Judge Halburd accepted that Ms Elisabeth wanted to give evidence and had made arrangements to return to Australia, which had only been thwarted by illness.
'It's a most unpalatable situation to be in, but in my view it's in the interest of justice to grant the adjournment,' he said.
Barrister Greg Stanton said Kesserwani (above) had incurred 'significant costs' due to the first hearing being abandoned and was suffering ongoing reputational harm
While considering a new hearing date, Judge Halburd was told that Chief Inspector Coffey had not checked on Ms Elisabeth's future availability.
Mr Stanton responded to that with one last retort: 'He's had no problem communicating with her in the past at one o'clock in the morning.'
On Friday, the case was listed for mention in January next year after Chief Inspector was asked to consult with Ms Elisabeth.
The Daily Mail understands that Kesserwani, who has a harbourfront unit at Millers Point, and Ms Elisabeth, who lives at Barangaroo, were together for about 18 months.
Kesserwani is not a medical doctor, but due to his chiropractic qualifications is entitled to put 'Dr' before his name and is still listed with AHPRA as eligible to practise.
A spokesman for Kesserwani previously told the Daily Mail that 'relevant professional bodies' had been informed of the charges.
'Dr Kesserwani refutes the allegations raised completely and will be defending the charges vigorously in court,' the spokesman said.
'He notes the allegations were only made following the breakdown of a relationship, and after a concerns notice was issued to the complainant following comments made on social media.'
Kesserwani (above, in an unrelated photo demonstration) has twice been reprimanded by the Health Care Complaints Commission for misconduct
Medisport Clinic is described on its website as 'the premier destination for sports performance physiotherapy and a range of other specialised services designed to keep you at the top of your game'.
Kesserwani, who has a second clinic at Concord in Sydney's inner-west, has twice been reprimanded by the Health Care Complaints Commission for misconduct.
In October 2017, the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal found Kesserwani guilty of unsatisfactory professional conduct and professional misconduct regarding a patient.
In June 2020, the tribunal found Kesserwani had engaged in improper and unethical conduct in that he practised outside his scope as a chiropractor by performing platelet-rich plasma injections.
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