Shark attack story a bit fishy

2007-12-20 12:07

Sydney - A man who claimed a shark mauled him as he swam at Australia's legendary Bondi Beach was allegedly a thief whose injuries were caused when his arm went through a glass window, a report said on Thursday.

Scott Wright made global headlines after he told reporters last weekend that he was enjoying a Friday night swim off the world-famous Sydney beach when he felt a shark latch on to his arm.

Wright told Sydney's Channel 10 network that he fought off the shark by punching it on the nose, then made his way to shore but passed out on some rocks, where his girlfriend found him early on Saturday, the day after the alleged attack.

"I thought I was a goner," he said at the time, displaying deep gouges on his forearm that he said were the result of what was billed as the first shark attack on Bondi beach in 70 years.

But the Sydney Morning Herald website reported on Thursday that Wright had actually injured himself when his arm went through a glass window several days before the alleged shark attack.

Citing unnamed sources, the newspaper website reported that Wright only said he was bitten by a shark on Saturday, when a woman asked how he had been injured.

It also said Wright was currently in jail after being arrested for theft at Bondi this week after the alleged shark attack.

A New South Wales police spokesperson said only a 34-year-old man had been arrested on theft charges in connection with breaking and entering a Bondi backpackers' hostel last Monday and Tuesday.

The spokesperson, declining to offer further details, said the man was remanded in custody to reappear in court on February 14.

- SAPA