Ben Cousins (pictured recently) is set to spend up to two months behind bars after new charges, and will face court again in October
A prominent brothel owner has revealed that embattled former AFL star Ben Cousins had been living with her before his arrest.
Mary-Anne Kenworthy, 62, owns brothels in Western Australia, and says Cousins, 40, was living with her up to about a month ago before he became ‘erratic’.
Ms Kenworthy owns the Langtrees brothels in Perth and far-east Kalgoorlie, and has been in the business for 35 years.
She called Cousins a ‘friend’, but says that his fame and stardom has prevented him from growing up.
On Tuesday, the former West Coast Eagles premiership star was allegedly caught with 13 grams of meth, threatening to kill the mother of his two kids.
He was denied bail in Perth’s Armadale Magistrates Court on Wednesday over stalking and drug charges, and is set to spend up to two months in jail.
Mary-Anne Kenworthy (pictured) is a prominent brothel owner in WA, and says that the ‘erratic’ Cousins had been living with her up until about a month ago
She owns a number of Langtrees brothels (pictured) across Western Australia, having been in the business for 35 years
Ms Kenworthy told Perth Now that Cousins had been living with her for a while, but had become exceedingly erratic in the past three months.
‘When he’s good, he’s very, very good and when he’s bad he’s not with the world of the living,’ she said.
Cousins had been trying to get his life back on track, she says, after he was released from jail on parole earlier this year.
Ms Kenworthy says that she suspects his fame prevented him from growing up, saying: ‘He had it all too easy and he just hasn’t got the reality of life.’
Former Richmond Tigers coach Terry Wallace (pictured) has told a Melbourne radio station that he was sad but not surprised to hear of Ben Cousins’ recent demise
‘He would pick up the gun or the knife and use it on his own father to get to the drug of choice,’ a former coach has revealed. Pictured is Ben Cousins with his dad Bryan after he won the 2005 Brownlow Medal
Earlier in the week, Cousins’ ex-coach Terry Wallace opened up about how drug addiction plagued Cousins in his final two seasons.
Wallace, who coached Cousins at the Richmond Tigers in 2009 and 2010, revealed that the former Brownlow Medallist would choose drugs over the closest person in his life – his father Bryan – in his darkest times.
‘The closest person in his life was his dad,’ Wallace told SEN Radio’s Andy Maher in an interview on Thursday afternoon.
‘We had the psychologists say to us, at the time, as close as what he was to his dad, at his worst, if there was the drug of choice on one side of the table and his dad preventing him and there was a gun or a knife on the table, he would pick up the gun or the knife and use it on his own father to get to the drug of choice. That’s how much it gets a hold of people.’
Ben Cousins (pictured in 2005) played 270 AFL games for the West Coast Eagles and Richmond Tigers before he retired in 2010
Wallace was sad but not surprised to hear of Cousins’ recent demise, whom he described as ‘a lovely person but troubled individual’.
‘He wasn’t the same person he was as a young man,’ Wallace said.
‘As soon as he chose to move back to Perth, I thought it was absolutely doomed from that stage onwards. It was always going to be difficult once there was no more football in his life.’
Wallace also revealed he had no regrets about giving Cousins a second chance to resurrect his playing career in 2009, which ended the following year after 270 games spanning 15 seasons.
‘This is a young man who I’ve broken bread with and had him in my family home,’ he said.
‘When you are talking to his parents, you’re hoping that the footy vehicle might have been enough, but it couldn’t do the job.’
It comes after footy legends Garry Lyon and Tim Watson led widespread calls in AFL circles backing Cousins to remain behind bars.
Terry Wallace (pictured) coached Ben Cousins in his final two seasons playing AFL
Talking to SEN Breakfast on Thursday morning, Lyon said the situation was ‘sad and tragic’ and that his family and ex-partner were going through a horrendous time.
‘When you read the stuff about his kids, he needs to be in jail. It’s just incredibly sad,’ Lyon said.
‘I know we can have sympathy for them, but when you [allegedly] have 13 grams of meth… I don’t want to say where it was, with intent to sell or supply and you consider his history and having not been out of jail long, it’s sadly where he needs to be.’
Watson agreed with Lyon and said he belonged in prison.
‘That’s right, it’s one thing to be self destructive, but when you start to be destructive and you tear apart a family…then there is only one place for you,’ he said.
Cousins was refused bail amid allegations that he threatened to kill his ex-partner, Maylea Tinecheff (pictured)
Ex-St Kilda player, Nick Riewoldt, also revealed on AFL 360 that an hour-long conversation he had with Cousins in a hotel lobby left him ‘sad’ and ‘concerned’.
Reiwoldt said the conversation between the two former stars was completely by chance and ‘wasn’t all that private’.
‘It was bizarre, really, because I could still see that charismatic kind person that we’ve all experienced,’ Riewoldt expressed.
‘I could see that in small glimpses, but at his core, he seemed incredibly clouded and almost irrational at times.’
The former St Kilda captain said he walked away from the conversation feeling sad about the situation that Cousins was in and concerned for his future.
When probed by Mark Robinson about whether he believed the Brownlow medalist was under the influence of drugs at the time, Reiwoldt said that he didn’t think so.
‘I didn’t think in the moment that he was, because we were able to have at that time a deep conversation. But it was clear that he was not the same person,’ he said.
He also said that it’s a tough situation for the family to be dealing with, one that would be especially sad for Cousins’ children.
An unnamed friend of Cousins claims that he tried to get a hold of his 2005 Brownlow Medal and sell it, but his father Bryan kept it from him.
It is believed that he tried to sell the medal for money to buy drugs.
The former West Coast captain is looking at spending the next two months in jail over the recent charges.
Cousins was refused bail amid allegations he threatened to kill his ex-partner, Maylea Tinecheff.
An unnamed friend of Cousins claims that he tried to get a hold of his 2005 Brownlow Medal and sell it, but his father Bryan kept it from him
‘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 threatened.
It is also believed he once got into a car with her holding a screwdriver and said: ‘I can’t wait to use it’.
The 40-year-old was arrested on Tuesday at a house in Canning Vale, south of Perth, and was allegedly found with 13 grams of methylamphetamine hidden in his anus.
He was visibly emotional in court, where he was charged with 16 offences.
The offences included aggravated burglary, aggravated stalking and possessing a prohibited drug with intent to sell or supply.
He was released from prison in January after serving up to ten months behind bars for stalking Ms Tinecheff.
Cousins will reappear in court on October 30.
Sorry we are not currently accepting comments on this article.