Former NRL player Luke O’Donnell’s mum triple-0 call

The mother of former State of Origin player Luke O’Donnell called Triple-0 because she wanted him to get help. The confronting recording of the call Diane O’Donnell made in the early hours of June 3 last year reveals she initially asked police to “hurry” because it was an “emergency”. LISTEN TO THE CALL

• Police cameras reveal shocking fall of rugby league star Luke O’Donnell
• Luke O’Donnell will argue he acted in ‘self defence’ before allegedly pushing female cop

The desperate mother of former State of Origin star Luke O’Donnell called Triple-0 because she wanted him to get help.

The confronting recording of the call Diane O’Donnell made in the early hours of June 3 last year reveals that she initially asked police to “hurry” because it was an “emergency”.

“My son has gone silly, he had a knife, he’s been drinking. I don’t know he’s just gone crazy smashing up …” she says in the phone call.

Screengrabs from police body camera footage of former State of Origin player Luke O'Donnell.

The recording has been released after O’Donnell, 38, was convicted of four offences on Wednesday for property damage, intimidating his father, assaulting a female senior constable and resisting police.

Downing Centre Local Court had heard that his parents had been staying at his house before he started “rambling”, held a knife to his own chin and hung out a three-storey window.

“Did you say he has a knife on him?” the operator asks during the call.

“Are you there?”

“Does he have a knife?”

His mother answers: “No, not at the moment.”

O’Donnell’s parents called the police.

She then breaks down crying saying “she doesn’t know” when asked if her son has any weapons on him.

“I think he needs medicating. I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

She goes on to tell the operator that he has no diagnosed mental health condition.

The operator says police are already on her way when Diane says her son appears to have calmed down and police might make it worse.

Luke O’Donnell’s parents Rod and Diane. Picture by Damian Shaw

“I think he’s calmed down, the police coming might make him worse I don’t know,” she says.

“It’s not coming like a SWAT team and all that are they?”

When O’Donnell was sentenced, Magistrate Philip Stewart noted that his parents “clearly love their son” and their actions of calling the police were “out of concern for their son”.

O’Donnell’s father Ross had previously told the court that his wife had called police as they hoped their son would get “help” and be taken to hospital to get assessed.

Both appeared visibly distressed in court when an application to have the charges dismissed on mental health grounds was dismissed.

Downing Centre Local Court had heard that his parents had been staying at his house.

O’Donnell, 38, was convicted of four offences

Police cameras reveal shocking fall of rugby league star Luke O’Donnell

They were attributes that took Luke O’Donnell to the heights of the NRL, but his strength, aggression and combative attitude also dragged him down to his lowest moment in his own apartment.

All were on display in a disturbing video filmed on the body camera of one of the six police officers sent to investigate his erratic behaviour on June 3 last year.

The video was played in court yesterday when the former State of Origin star was convicted of four offences including assaulting a female senior constable.

His barrister Stephen Lawrence told Downing Centre Local Court that O’Donnell had struggled to “adjust to life away from football” since his 2013 retirement and his separation from his wife.

O’Donnell was fined $1600 and placed on a one year community corrections order which will require him to abstain from drugs and be supervised for nine months.

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