The lawyer for a man accused of yelling "I'll kill you" at Holsworthy MP Melanie Gibbons during a Liberal party meeting has described the allegation as "frivolous and vexatious" and said it will be "vigorously defended".
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The incident is alleged to have taken place at the annual general meeting of the Moorebank branch last month.
A branch member, Jose Stojcevski, was charged with intimidation and served with an apprehended violence order by police.
But Mr Stojcevki's lawyer, James Nicopoulos, said his client would argue the allegation is "unfounded, frivolous and vexatious".
"We are going to assert that comments made by my client were said in jest and accepted as such [by Ms Gibbons]," he told Fairfax Media.
"She laughed if off and everybody joked about it. For some reason she's later felt that she fears for her safety".
Ms Gibbons did not respond to a request for comment but is understood to be taking the matter extremely seriously to the point where she is not spending time at home as as she fears for her safety.
The dispute is being linked in the Liberal party to the outbreak of hostilities between Liverpool mayor Ned Mannoun and councillor Peter Ristevski ahead of a key preselection meeting.
The November 17 meeting will determine preselectors for the Liberal party's Liverpool council ticket at the 2016 local government elections.
Cr Ristevski recently gained control of the Moorebank branch, of which he is vice-president. Mr Stojcevski is one of the new members introduced by Cr Ristevski.
Cr Mannoun controls the Liverpool City branch – the other major Liberal branch within the local government conference.
In addition, Moorebank is within the state seat of Holsworthy and Ms Gibbons is an ally of Cr Mannoun.
Fairfax Media revealed on Monday that Cr Mannoun has written to NSW Liberal party head office alleging that Cr Ristevski's actions risked bringing the party into disrepute.
The letter highlights Cr Ristevski's association with a convicted drug supplier, Tony Atanasovski, whose nickname is "The Falcon".
Atanasovski served three years in jail for offences including offering to supply a commercial quantity of cocaine to undercover police in 2010 and involvement in defrauding the Commonwealth Bank of $80,000.
It emerged that Atanasovski paid $160 to attend a Liberal fundraiser for Ms Gibbons in December.
Atanasovski was photographed with federal Treasurer and then immigration minister Scott Morrison, who was a special guest but had no role in organising the event or control over who attended.
In response, Liberal state director Tony Nutt said Atanasovski's attendance at the fundraiser was "completely unsatisfactory and should never have occurred".
He said the party would write a cheque refunding the payment to Atanasovski.
