A 44-year-old Melbourne man has made headlines after pleading guilty to three criminal charges linked to a pattern of bizarre public behavior, where he faked medical emergencies to trick strangers into restraining him. Simon Lara entered guilty pleas to two counts of public nuisance and one count of public indecent behaviour during a Tuesday morning hearing at Melbourne Magistrates Court, with the charges stemming from three separate incidents across 2023.
Court documents and prosecutor accounts detail a consistent pattern of deception across all three events. The first incident unfolded just after 6 p.m. on March 13 outside a Carlton North venue on Rathdowne Street. Lara collapsed on the ground, and when two passersby stopped to offer assistance, he claimed to suffer from a chronic muscle spasm condition that required physical restraint to subside. The two good Samaritans followed his instructions, kneeling on his back as he writhed on the ground for two to three minutes, before Lara stated the spasms had passed and he departed the scene.
The second incident occurred in the late evening of June 3 outside Windsor Railway Station. A member of the public found Lara shaking on the ground, and Lara again asked the man to kneel on his back. When the passerby expressed discomfort with the request, Lara stood up unassisted, thanked him, and left the area. The man later reported the encounter to police after recognizing Lara in a viral Reddit post about the fake seizure scheme.
The third incident took place on Flemington Road in Parkville on August 4, when Lara asked another stranger to kneel on his buttocks. The man complied for roughly 30 seconds while asking bystanders to contact emergency services, before Lara stood up, shook the man’s hand, and walked away. Five days later, that same man recognized Lara in a 9News report about the so-called “Fake Seizure Guy” and alerted authorities.
Notably, these three incidents all occurred before Lara was sentenced in August 2023 for nearly identical offending linked to an incident at a local Melbourne beach earlier that year. For that prior conviction, Lara was ordered to serve a community corrections order that included mandated treatment for what the court described as his “complex needs.” Legal representatives confirmed Lara has two additional pending matters before the courts, but he has not been accused of any similar offending since October 2023.
Outside the courtroom following Tuesday’s hearing, Lara gave an unorthodox interview to assembled television cameras, spinning for the lens and openly stating that he has always dreamed of becoming a TV star. “Go right ahead put it on television. I’ve got nothing to hide, not all disabilities are visible,” he told reporters, pointing to a flower emblem stitched to his shirt. Lara also reaffirmed that his previous expressions of remorse for his actions were genuine, and claimed the public would not see any further issues from him moving forward.
Lara’s defense team has confirmed the defendant has significant documented vulnerabilities, including a diagnosis of autism, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorder, alongside a history of traumatic life experiences. His legal team has requested a lengthy adjournment of the current case to allow time for a psychologist to conduct a full assessment of Lara and prepare a formal psychiatric report for the court. The case will return before Magistrate William Parker for a further hearing in August.