She’s built a multi million-dollar empire off her baking success, but long before Brooke Bellamy’s alleged plagiarism made headlines, her father-in-law was embroiled in a million dollar scandal of his own.

Brooke’s father-in-law David Bellamy was sacked from the elite Brisbane Boys’ College in 2014 after telling students not to twirl their ‘wangers’ (slang for penises) and waved his hand in front of his trousers to emphasise the point.

He was addressing the students about behaviour requirements on an upcoming rowing camp after ‘lewd sex acts’ were performed the year before. 

Mr Bellamy was then the director of rowing at the school in Taringa in Brisbane’s well-heeled western suburbs, on a salary package of $111,000 a year but was dismissed over the address.

Mr Bellamy took legal action against the Presbyterian and Methodist Schools’ Association (PMSA) – which ran the school – seeking $650,000 for defamation and $450,000 in damages. 

A settlement was reached in 2019 in the Queensland Supreme Court, which awarded Mr Bellamy a sum reportedly in excess of $1million including costs.

Mr Bellamy said that he was asked to warn his students about their behaviour because one boy had slapped another boy’s face with his penis a year earlier at rowing camp at the University of Queensland.

The former rowing coach claimed he was trying to stop inappropriate actions happening again. 

Brooke Bellamy is under fire for allegedly copying recipes in her Bake With Brooki cookbook

Brooke¿s father-in-law David Bellamy was sacked from elite Brisbane Boys¿ College after telling students not to twirl their ¿wangers¿

Brooke’s father-in-law David Bellamy was sacked from elite Brisbane Boys’ College after telling students not to twirl their ‘wangers’ 

In court documents, Mr Bellamy’s lawyers said that his future chances of obtaining a job as a coach or administrator ‘have been effectively destroyed’.

David Bellamy and his wife Dooley Crighton-Bellamy are the parents of Brooke’s husband Justice.

The couple founded infant formula company Bellamy’s Organic before it was acquired by a Chinese dairy giant for $1.5million.

In a Facebook post from last September, David shared a photo from the line of people at Brooke’s Fortitude Valley bakery.

‘Brooki Bakehouse: It’s wonderful to see the kids working so hard and satisfying consumer demand!’ he wrote.

‘Definitely worth a visit!’

Justice, a former landscape gardener, has been acting as a co-director of Brooki Bakehouse with his wife.

The business has garnered a massive social media following off the back of TikTok videos of Ms Bellamy at work in the shop. 

While Brooke bunkered down in the couples  $3.6million three-bedroom home, husband Justice proudly donned his wife's merchandise

While Brooke bunkered down in the couples  $3.6million three-bedroom home, husband Justice proudly donned his wife’s merchandise

Australia Post even struggled to get the couple to emerge from their lavish home

Australia Post even struggled to get the couple to emerge from their lavish home

The former Brisbane Boy's College head coach for rowing said he was warning students after a sexual behaviour occurred at a rowing camp the year before

The former Brisbane Boy’s College head coach for rowing said he was warning students after a sexual behaviour occurred at a rowing camp the year before

She produced the instant best-selling cookbook Bake with Brooki shortly after the opening of her third store and the birth of her daughter.

The couple purchased a lavish grand Queenslander in one of Brisbane’s premier suburbs in September last year for a whopping for $3,600,000.

The two-level home boasts city views, three bedrooms, a kitchen fit for a baker, a marble-trimmed fireplace and expansive pool and outdoor area.

However, their idyllic life was rocked this week when blogger turned cookbook author Nagi Maehashi accused Ms Bellamy of plagiarising two of her recipes, including a five-step method for caramel slice and baklava.

She denied plagiarism in an Instagram post on Tuesday night, saying she has been making the caramel slice recipe since 2016 and referring followers to a photo she posted of the slice at that time.

In the wake of the blockbuster claims, other chefs and authors have also now come forward with similar allegations.

US-based baker Sally McKenney of Sally’s Baking Addiction fame claimed on Instagram that Bellamy had also copied her vanilla cake recipe.

In a Facebook post from last September, David shared a photo from the line of people at Brooke’s Fortitude Valley bakery.

In a Facebook post from last September, David shared a photo from the line of people at Brooke’s Fortitude Valley bakery.

Justice seen in his back garden is a former landscape gardener, has been acting as a co-director of Brooki Bakehouse with his wife

Justice seen in his back garden is a former landscape gardener, has been acting as a co-director of Brooki Bakehouse with his wife 

Nagi Maehashi (pictured) is a former financier at Brookfield Multiplex and PwC who pivoted to food blogging in 2014

Nagi Maehashi (pictured) is a former financier at Brookfield Multiplex and PwC who pivoted to food blogging in 2014

‘Original recipe creators who put in the work to develop and test recipes deserve credit – especially in a best-selling cookbook,’ McKenney said.

Pregnant mother-of-one Ms Bellamy rejected the claim, posting to Instagram that her book ‘Bake with Brooki’ is made up of recipes ‘created over many years’.

On Thursday she remained bunkered down at her three-bedroom home, even refusing to answer the door to an Australia Post delivery.

She turned her personal Instagram account to private after trolls flooded her pages with savage attacks over the row.

‘The past 24 hours have been extremely overwhelming,’ she said in a statement.

‘I have had media outside my home and business, and have been attacked online. It has been deeply distressing for my colleagues and my young family.

‘While baking has leeway for creativity, much of it is a precise science and is necessarily formulaic. Many recipes are bound to share common steps and measures: if they don’t, they simply don’t work.

‘My priority right now is to ensure the welfare of the fantastic team at Brooki Bakehouse and that of my family.’

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