Sydney hospitality director assaulted former fiancee in ‘moment of madness’

A director of the major Sydney hospitality group behind harbourside restaurants Ripples and Sails admitted to assaulting his former fiancee, who said she feared for her life, in a phone transcript released by the court.

Daniel Drakopoulos, the son of multimillionaire SRG Hospitality mogul Bill Drakopoulos, was sentenced to a good behaviour bond, with no conviction recorded, after pleading guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm and destroying property.

The 30-year-old initially faced seven charges, but after a plea deal with prosecutors, all but two were dropped. The court heard Drakopoulos caused injuries to his former partner’s wrists during an argument and threw her mobile phone against the wall in 2024.

The withdrawn charges include intentionally choking, intimidation, larceny and another count of assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

In a call transcript released by the Downing Centre Local Court following the sentence, the woman said she was traumatised and “living in hell”. She asked Drakopoulos if he knew how much trauma was left on her after he broke into her house and assaulted her.

Drakopoulos responded: “I do. I’ve thought about it everyday over the last two weeks and it’s just, it’s broken me … I feel disgusting”.

The victim went on to say: “You could have killed me. I’m tiny”, adding he kicked her, pulled her hair and choked her. His former partner asked if he understood the severity, to which he said he did, and said he put his hands around her neck.

“Like, I could have died,” she said, to which Drakopoulos sighed and said “yep”.

Moments later, Drakopoulos said he has nothing to say and does not “feel like a human being … a man any more”. He said he did not deserve to be her “protector”.

“How can you be my protector when you’re the one that beat me up?” the victim asked, adding that she was “scared” of him after he “f—ing threw” her, headbutted her and broke into her home.

The woman told him he could go to prison, and he said: “I know”. “I know it’s your safe place and I ruined it, to be honest,” he added.

In a separate text tendered to the court, Drakopoulos apologised for “overreacting”.

“I overreacted to the text messages I saw … It’s because I love you so much I thought someone else may be trying to take you away. I’m sorry again.”

Bill Drakopoulos, who owns more than 20 venues across the city under the SRG hospitality banner, including a string of harbourfront locations and Vineria Luisa in Enmore and Ormeggio at the Spit, wept with his son as the sentence was delivered in the Downing Centre on Thursday.

Drakopoulos was represented in court by Philip Strickland, SC, and supported by reputational risk advisors Giles George.

“It was a moment of madness,” said Strickland. “He is absolutely mortified about what it has done to his father and his business.”

The court heard Drakopoulos had been sidelined from negotiations over his family’s hospitality empire as it plans an aggressive expansion across the city, with seven new openings planned for this year.

“He will remain for a period of time, damaged goods,” Strickland told the court.

Judge Brett Thomas said the actual bodily harm caused by the assault was “towards the bottom end of the scale”.

Thomas said he understood the publicity surrounding the case “would cause you and your family a fair amount of grief,” but added Drakopoulos was “no different compared to other people we deal with on a daily basis – whether it’s Campbelltown or Cronulla.”

In a statement issued by his representative at Giles George, Drakopoulos said the matter had now been dealt with by the courts.

“I accept his honour’s remarks today, which I will further reflect on as I move forward,” he said.

Drakopoulos was also given an apprehended violence order for the two-year duration of the good behaviour bond.

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