AFL great turned ice addict Ben Cousins, 40, breaks his silence as he is seen in public for the first time at a swimming pool following his release from jail
- Cousins, 40, was released on bail and has been seen out in Perth with ponytail
- In March, Cousins pleaded not guilty to 14 offences including stalking
- Former Brownlow medallist was arrested at his ex-girlfriend’s house in August
A week after being released from jail on bail, former AFL champion Ben Cousins has declared ‘it’s good to be out’.
Cousins unwittingly found himself in front of the Perth media on Wednesday when he happened to be at the same swimming pool where AFL club Fremantle were training.
A happy and healthy looking Cousins was at the Cockburn Aquatic and Recreation Centre where the media was waiting for Fremantle coach Ross Lyon to speak before training.
A week after being released from jail on bail, former AFL champion Ben Cousins (pictured on Wednesday) has declared ‘it’s good to be out’
The former West Coast captain and Brownlow medallist didn’t address reporters as he left the venue except to say ‘it’s good to be out’
The former West Coast captain and Brownlow medallist didn’t address reporters as he left the venue except to say ‘it’s good to be out’.
He did, however, spend significant time speaking with former West Coast player and Seven Network reporter Adrian Barich.
Accompanied by his sister and baby niece, Cousins was still sporting his hair in a ponytail and a significant beard.
He was released from Hakea prison last week after eight months inside with a trial date set for September 12.
The 40-year-old will answer 14 charges, 12 of which relate to breaching a family restraining order.
He faces a count each of aggravated stalking and threatening to injure, endanger or harm which stems from his arrest last August at the home of former partner Maylea Tinecheff.
Cousins (pictured with a friend), 40, was released on bail and has been seen out in Palmyra, a suburb of Perth, sporting a long beard and ponytail
Troubled AFL champion Ben Cousins (pictured) has been released from jail
In March, Cousins pleaded not guilty to 14 offences at Armadale Magistrates Court.
He was held in custody at Hakea Prison in Western Australia.
Police have alleged that Cousins bombarded Ms Tinecheff with phone calls, messages and unannounced visits, breaching the conditions of the violence restraining order.
‘I’m going to kill you. I’m going to take your life and your freedom and the things you love the most,’ he allegedly told her.
Cousins also allegedly said he was going to bury her in a car ‘where she would survive for a couple of days, then he would bring the kids to play so she would hear them but would not be able to get to them’.
Cousins allegedly threatened the mother of his children with a screwdriver after getting into her BMW in Burswood and telling her he ‘can’t wait to use it.’
The former Brownlow medallist was arrested at his ex-girlfriend Maylea Tinecheff’s (pictured with Cousins) home in August
Before he applied for bail, his lawyer Michael Tudor said Cousins was ‘the clearest I have seen him’.
‘He is the one who is approaching me about rehabilitation, but one of the problems we have is that his predicament at the moment precludes him from going to a lot of rehabilitation places,’ Mr Tudor said.
Cousins won the Brownlow Medal as the game’s best player and an AFL premiership with the West Coast Eagles during a career marred by off-field incidents.
He was jailed in 2017 before being released in January 2018 on parole.
Cousins (pictured in 2005) won the Brownlow Medal as the game’s best player and an AFL premiership with the West Coast Eagles during a career marred by off-field incidents
THE TROUBLED LIFE AND TIMES OF BEN COUSINS:
1996 – Makes AFL debut with West Coast and is named the league’s Rising Star
2001 – Named club captain of West Coast at age 23
2002 – Breaks his arm falling down a flight of stairs at a nightclub months after punching his teammate Daniel Kerr
2005 – (May) Is quizzed by police about association with underworld identities
– (September) Wins Brownlow medal as the AFL’s best and fairest player
Cousins after the 2006 AFL Grand Final
2006 – (February) Swims across a Perth river to escape a booze bus
– (September) Wins AFL premiership with the Eagles
– (December) Is arrested after passing out in front of Melbourne’s Crown Casino and spends four hours in jail
2007 – (March) Suspended by West Coast after missing training session
– (April) Goes to a drug rehabilitation facility in the US
– (October) Revealed to have visited fellow Eagles legend Chris Mainwaring twice on the night he died of a drug overdose
– (October) Arrested and charged with drug offences that are later dropped
– (November) Eventually sacked by West Coast and banned from the AFL for one year
2008 – AFL re-registers Cousins and he is signed by Richmond
2010 – Retires from the AFL but releases autobiography and documentary
Cousins has been charged with drug possession and refusing a drug test in 2007, but the charges were later dropped
2015 – Arrested three times before leading police on a slow-speed car chase
2016 – (June) Spotted behaving erratically and directing traffic on a highway
– (October) In and out of court over drug offences and breaches a restraining order taken out by his ex-partner
2017 – Jailed for one year for breaching restraining order by calling his ex-lover thousands of times
2018 – (January) Released from jail on parole just 10 months into his sentence
He takes up a community support role with the West Coast Eagles – a requirement of his parole conditions
– (May): Reports emerge he hasn’t been seen at the club for a month
The club confirms the he told officials in April he no longer wanted the job
– (August) Arrested and charged with drug possession and breaching a restraining order
Source: AAP