Ben Cousins jailed for stalking mother of his children
AFL premiership player and Brownlow medallist Ben Cousins has been found guilty of stalking his ex-partner, but will soon walk free from prison.
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Fallen AFL champion Ben Cousins has been found guilty of stalking the mother of his children and sentenced to seven months in prison, with a Perth magistrate saying he let himself down.
Cousins, who has been behind bars since his bail bid was rejected in April, stood trial in Armadale Magistrates Court charged with aggravated stalking and 20 counts of breaching a violence restraining order.
Magistrate Brian Mahon delivered his verdict on Wednesday, ruling Cousins was not guilty of the VRO breaches and aggravated stalking.
He was instead convicted of stalking and made eligible for parole.
Regardless, the 42-year-old will complete his full prison sentence this month.
The former West Coast Eagles captain was in a relationship with Maylea Tinecheff from 2008 to 2013 and they share two children, aged seven and nine.
Mr Mahon noted Cousins had made 165 calls to Ms Tinecheff over 14 days and had showed up at her home. He also sent persistent, though “neutral”, text messages to her.
“I am not satisfied beyond reasonable doubt … that I should draw the inference that he intended to intimidate,” Mr Mahon said.
“I accept that his motivation – although unwise in the sphere of a parenting plan, the conduct agreement order, challenges and difficulties between the parties – it’s evident to me, and I find that, Mr Cousins’s motivations and his intention was far from intending to intimidate Ms Tinecheff.
“He was intending to establish contact, or re-establish contact, with his children.
“I have to say though, the environment of the conduct agreement order and the parenting plan made those decisions rather unwise, in my view.”
Mr Mahon described Cousins as an intelligent person, who knew how to conduct himself appropriately.
“You’ve let yourself down,” Mr Mahon said.
“You caused additional stresses and strains to Ms Tinecheff. I found you didn’t intend to do so.
“I get the sense, Mr Cousins, that you’re an insightful man, you’ve had time to reflect.
“You can see how that impacts negatively on your children.
“I know … your children are front and centre in your mind.”
Mr Mahon said the prosecution case regarding the VRO breaches was “doomed” to fail and noted they had even miscalculated the number of charges at the beginning of the trial.
During the trial, Ms Tinecheff testified she understood the parenting plan was void by December last year.
She also revealed she secretly moved house without telling the Brownlow medallist and claimed their children were scared of him at one point.
In a text message sent to Cousins after his Channel 7 documentary interview aired in late March, Ms Tinecheff described him as a “tormenting rat”.
“Don’t call me again. You have no rights in the kids’ lives,” she wrote.
“You got on TV and humiliated all of your family, both sides, and left a mark on the kids’ lives permanently, shown no remorse, no love other than love for yourself, drugs and your filthy lifestyle.
“You haven’t contributed to their existence.
“You’re a gross human being, not their dad. They are too good for you.”
The court heard Cousins was paid about $100,000 for the interview, but Ms Tinecheff denied she tried to use their children as “pawns” to get money from the premiership player.
Ms Tinecheff testified she believed Cousins’s television interview was not in the children’s best interests.
“He was clearly drug-affected, and I didn’t think it was safe for him to see the children,” she said.
Ms Tinecheff also said that during a phone call on Easter Sunday, Cousins “started screaming and yelling at the children”.
She further testified that child protection authorities told her she “had to breach” Cousins or the children would be removed from her care.
Cousins played 238 games for West Coast and finished his AFL career at Richmond, playing a further 32 games.
He retired at the end of the 2010 season, and since then his drug addiction has continued to make headlines.
Cousins has previously served prison time for stalking Ms Tinecheff.
Originally published as Ben Cousins jailed for stalking mother of his children