If Sydney gave out medals for the neighbour from hell, lawyer-turned-artist Syan Olsen might just win gold.
But her reign of terror at Easthaven – a mid-century waterfront apartment building in Darling Point – has come to an end. Olsen has 28 days to vacate her mother’s one-bedroom property following a drama-packed NSW Supreme Court case which exposed an alarming chain of events over the past five years.
Easthaven residents have each had to fork out for special levies of up to $3500 a month to pay for legal action against the woman who made life in Darling Point a misery, highlighting the costly and complicated gymnastics sometimes required to banish even the worst of neighbours.
As Justice Gregory Sirtes mused, Darling Point is a prized peninsula offering parks and water views for those lucky enough to live there. “But as this case shows, none of it guarantees harmony among those who share this amenity.”
The saga began in late 2021 when Olsen moved into a fifth floor apartment owned by her mother Sue-Maree. The mid-30s lawyer lived a glamorous existence; she had worked for several years with controversial barrister Charles Waterstreet at Forbes Chambers, was pivoting to a career as an artist, and spent sunny days partying on Sydney Harbour.
According to Olsen’s version of events – which have been comprehensively demolished by Justice Sirtes – she was nothing short of a model resident. Her mother even claimed in court that women living at Easthaven targeted her daughter because they were jealous of the “beautiful young lady”.
To her neighbours, she was trouble from the start. Complaints began almost immediately after she moved in. Music blared all hours of the night, forcing Matthew Davis and Cecilia Barrett, who leased next door, to complain. Things got so bad the couple twice had to sleep in their office.
Despite swearing in an affidavit she had never sent abusive messages, text messages in March 2022 show Olsen accused Davis and Barrett of being “a pair of weirdos who watch me and talk about me to the point it’s creepy”. She then issued threats, including references to an apprehended violence order and the citizenship status of Barrett.
“Leave me the f–k alone. You don’t get to tell me to turn off my TV,” she wrote. “If you continue to do it I’m going to go for an AVO. Call the police if you think the noise suffices a complaint and watch them laugh in your face. This is your first and final warning to leave me alone and get a life – both of you.”
The noise didn’t stop. Fed up, Davis and Barrett moved out in July 2022. Another couple who moved in also terminated their lease early as a result of Olsen’s behaviour.
She also spilled paint in common rooms and the boat deck. Toxic fumes from spray paint cans forced some residents to close doors and windows. Paint dripped onto the balcony of Timothy Green and his wife Slendy Sanchez Monroy.
Other issues piled up: Olsen stored household items in the hallway outside her apartment. Mess was left in common areas, including four garbage bags filled with the leftovers of a “huge seafood BBQ”. Food was dropped on carpet near the lifts. A thick trail of glue was found in a corridor. Her Toyota Camry was parked for hours in the complex’s car wash bay.
She allegedly referred to the 14-year-old son of one resident as “faggot boy”. Justice Sirtes said he was unable to make a positive finding on the balance of probabilities that Olsen uttered the slur, but he noted the boy’s father was an honest and careful witness. He was also unsettled by Olsen’s vague and generally unresponsive answers about whether she said it. “I consider that any person who was accused of calling a 14-year-old boy a ‘faggot’, and who had not done so, would immediately and emphatically deny the allegation when confronted with it,” the judge said. “One could imagine they might even become indignant at being accused of such a disgraceful act. By contrast, Ms Olsen’s response was tepid and evasive. This was remarkable and, indeed, telling.”
Olsen also poured water from her balcony into apartments below, causing damage.
A confrontation over the water exploded on Australia Day 2023 after Slendy Sanchez Monroy knocked on Olsen’s door and complained. What happened next is highly contested. Sanchez Monroy told the Supreme Court as she was returning to her apartment, Olsen “came out of nowhere, pushed me and scratched my chest”. Olsen claimed the reverse happened and Sanchez Monroy chased her, lunged at her, and butted her with her upper body.
Both parties called the police; Olsen was arrested and charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and spent a night in a cell at Waverley Police Station. She was subsequently found not guilty.
Back at Easthaven, Olsen installed a CCTV device on her front door. The “peephole camera” recorded other residents in the hallway, including tenants of the unit next door and their visitors. The camera also captured interactions between Olsen and other residents, as well as maintenance staff. She posted footage from the camera on her Instagram account.
She then stuck handwritten notes to her door, including one which read: “This security camera is here for my protection due to ongoing corruption at Easthaven and the multiple death threats I’ve received. There are a number of units currently under investigation by government authorities.”
Olsen took a bicycle belonging to the wife of a resident and offered a series of curious explanations in court for the bizarre act. At one point she claimed she had met with an Indigenous elder who runs a “juvenile charity with the Kings Cross Police Station”, and that she had wondered whether she could “donate” bikes. The Herald sought to contact Olsen for comment.
Easthaven residents were at their wits’ end. But from there, things got worse.
The Darling Point building is owned by a company of the same name, and the exclusive right to live in an apartment is secured by ownership of shares. Easthaven Limited is run by a board of directors, which handled many of the complaints about Olsen and issued various breach notices to her mother.
Furious about her perceived treatment, Olsen started targeting several directors and residents, initially via flyers and letters left around the building. The documents made wild and unfounded allegations of misappropriation of funds, conflicts of interest, privacy violations and criminal offences. There were “hidden millions” located in undisclosed bank accounts, she claimed. Olsen in court suggested there was a military grade antenna pointing in the direction of her apartment.
She also waged an email and letter campaign to raise scurrilous allegations about goings-on in Easthaven with an array of government agencies including the federal Department of Finance, Australian Financial Security Authority, federal Attorney-General’s Department, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, NSW Police, the Australian Tax Office’s serious crime taskforce, the Australian Cyber Security Centre, the NSW corruption watchdog, Woollahra Council and the NSW Building Commission.
Not content with that, Olsen adopted an even more sinister approach.
Letters of complaint were soon sent to the employers of Easthaven’s directors and residents, including HWLE law firm partner Kirston Gerathy. As Christmas 2024 approached, Olsen emailed senior executives at Gerathy’s firm, claiming without foundation the lawyer had improperly used legal sources, potentially facilitated insurance claims for legal fees, and engaged in retaliatory and harassing behaviour towards whistleblowers. Olsen warned the HWLE partners they may be implicated, and the matters should be investigated.
The firm conducted an investigation and confirmed Gerathy had not breached any rules or internal policies. The saga took a serious toll on Gerathy, who viewed Olsen’s allegations as “malicious and grievous attack” designed to punish her for serving as an Easthaven director. “It is difficult to disagree with this assessment,” Justice Sirtes concluded.
Olsen also complained to the Office of the Legal Services Commissioner about Gerathy and another lawyer who has lived in Easthaven for two decades, Craig Young. The complaints were eventually dismissed.
Olsen also emailed the ABC to raise allegations about another neighbour in Easthaven, producer Alison McClymont. McClymont is the sister of Herald chief investigative reporter Kate McClymont, leading Olsen to dub them the “McClymonsters”. Olsen told the ABC she looked forward to a prompt and principled response to her claims. Justice Sirtes wryly noted: “Perhaps unsurprisingly, no such response was ever forthcoming.”
As the campaign escalated and breaches of rules mounted, the board had enough and called an extraordinary general meeting for June last year. Forty-one shareholders unanimously voted to invoke powers to force Olsen’s mother to transfer her shares in Easthaven to someone else approved by the directors – in effect removing her as an owner of the apartment her daughter was living in.
Sue-Maree Olsen challenged that decision in court but lost last week, when Justice Sirtes ordered the apartment be vacated within 28 days. After five years, the neighbour from hell is about to officially leave the building – and is on the lookout for a new place in Sydney to call home.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
