Magistrate rejects Fyre restaurant owner John Mountain’s VRO application against vegan activist Tash Peterson

Vegan activist Tash Peterson has posted on social media to share her win after a court ruled that there were insufficient grounds to grant a violence restraining order being sought against her by Fyre restaurant owner John Mountain.

As first reported by PerthNow, the pair came face to face at Joondalup Magistrates Court last month over a VRO Mr Mountain had applied for against the activist.

Mr Mountain, who did not have legal representation, told the court in April that he just wanted Ms Peterson “to stop posting about me and my business”.

After a lengthy hearing dominated by multiple social media posts and a barrage of questioning of the chef by Ms Peterson’s lawyer, Magistrate Raelene Johnston adjourned the case to hand down her verdict on Tuesday.

Ms Peterson used her Facebook and Instagram accounts to announce to her nearly 100,000 followers that Ms Johnston ruled there were insufficient grounds to grant a VRO or misconduct restraining order.

A social media post by Mr Mountain on his Fyre page on Thursday morning confirmed the VRO was not granted.

A VRO against Ms Peterson was first applied for in July 2023 after two protests at Mr Mountain’s restaurant in Connolly. The pair had a physical confrontation during the second protest.

in her Instagram post, Ms Peterson said she was “legally prohibited from discussing or posting about him online” before the court case.

Mr Mountain told PerthNow on Thursday the verdict was not a surprise to him following the first day of the hearing.

“The problem was that the law states clearly that a VRO is against a person that is personally going to commit or procure injury or harm to another,” he said.

“I knew to be honest that it wouldn’t stand up but it gave me a bit of peace for about six months of her not writing s... about me because it’s constant.”

Mr Mountain said his restaurant had once again received a barrage of negative reviews online after Ms Peterson’s post about the trial.

Despite Mr Mountain admitting outside court last month that he could see Ms Johnston was “not totally convinced”, he said she was “really lovely” when handing down her decision on Tuesday.

Mr Mountain told PerthNow he felt that the magistrate “praised” him in some circumstances but acknowledged that she probably thought he “was a complete d... in others”.

According to Mr Mountain, the magistrate said “I like your honesty, it’s very refreshing, but it can also be brutally damaging to others”.

While Mr Mountain’s VRO application was unsuccessful, he said he did gain a small victory when an attempt by Ms Peterson’s lawyer for Mr Mountain to pay legal costs was not granted.

Peterson will return to Joondalup court on July 29 to face an alleged trespassing case, which will be followed by a defamation case by Mr Mountain.

According to Mr Mountain, the defamation case will take place as early as August. He will be represented by lawyers in that case.