Cops ‘had cake and ate it’ in OnlyFans raid, says ex-MAFS star Stacey Hampton

A former TV bride has told a court two federal agencies abused their power in an early-morning raid of her home over “website income”.

Two Federal agencies “had their cake and ate it” by using search warrants to question an ex-Married At First Sight contestant about OnlyFans and her carer’s pension, a court has heard.

On Wednesday, Stacey Hampton told the Federal Court that Australian Federal Police and Services Australia had “abused their power” when searching her home in September 2023.

She said they used warrants obtained by the AFP to get Services Australia workers inside her home and question her about the benefits she received for caring for her disabled sons.

Ms Hampton said the warrants – which also saw a Mercedes Benz and Porsche searched – lacked specificity, stating only that the investigation was about “income over 1 1/2 years”.

“The word ‘income’ is too broad... there are many types of income, was it illegal income? That’s what I thought they were looking for,” she said.

Former MAFS contestant Stacey Hampton posted on Instagram before her appearance on Wednesday. Picture: Instagram

Former MAFS star Stacey Lee Hampton outside the Federal Court in April. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Brenton Edwards

“They later said it related, specifically, to a website with content from (me).

“I’m not being unfair – if the word ‘website’ had appeared (on the warrant), it could have narrowed the reach and been sufficient (and) potentially we wouldn’t be here today.”

Justice Stephen McDonald asked if the website “was OnlyFans”, and Ms Hampton replied it was “not merely a website”.

“OnlyFans is a company name, they do more than that, it’s a big company,” she said.

“They operate on many, many levels.”

In her application for judicial review, Ms Hampton claimed a search of her Dernancourt home by the AFP and Services Australia was illegal and, therefore, trespassing.

Ms Hampton, who has not been accused of wrongdoing or charged, claimed the search was “an unreasonable exercise of power” that also upset her sons Kosta, 8, and Kruz, 6.

She claimed they were banned from accessing personal devices and had their medical files searched, all while mourning the death of the children’s father, Rebels bikie Shane Smith.

Ms Hampton with her sons and, inset, their late father, senior Rebels bikie Shane Smith. Artwork: Kara Jung

On Wednesday, Ms Hampton conceded participating in a Services Australia interview was voluntary, but said the circumstances of the raid had left her feeling otherwise.

“There were 10 to 15 members of an AFP team executing quite heavy-handed warrants while Services Australia proposed to have ‘just a conversation’ and record it,” she said.

“One (Services Australia) worker said ‘this is your letter (requesting an interview), I’ve flown from Sydney to do this interview, we should do it now, I’ve come just for this interview’.”

She said the warrants should be declared unlawful, and the interview be deemed inadmissable in any future proceedings, because of their actions.

“Their were having their cake and eating it... to me, they were exercising power beyond what the magistrate (who authorised the warrant) intended,” she said.

“I’ve never seen a case like this.”

Paul d’Assumpcao, for the government, said the warrants were sufficiently specific and should not be overturned.

“This is an unusual and novel application... ‘legal unreasonableness’ is a high test,” he said.

“The warrants were hand-written by the magistrate and hand-signed... that in itself is enough to address each and every (complaint) about their validity.

“For a Commonwealth officer to have a conversation with someone is the same as it is for a private citizen.

“(The raid) was an intrusion, but not an unlawful one - it was one that was necessary for the purposes of investigation.”

Justice McDonald will hand down his decision at a later date.

Originally published as Cops ‘had cake and ate it’ in OnlyFans raid, says ex-MAFS star Stacey Hampton