Terrified triple-0 phone call by Dylan Walker’s fiancee played in court
In a terrified triple-0 phone call made by the fiancee of NRL star Dylan Walker, model Alexandra Ivkovic told police “he pulled my hair and I fell down”. Walker turned up to court hand-in-hand with Ms Ivkovic today.
In a terrified triple-0 phone call made by the fiancee of NRL star Dylan Walker, Alexandra Ivkovic, told police the NRL star “pulled my hair and I fell down”.
The audio was revealed at the Sea Eagles centre’s domestic violence hearing on Tuesday, where a sobbing Ms Ivkovic can be heard saying “I don’t want to be alone with him … he’s scaring me when he’s like this.”
The former Miss Universe Australia finalist told the emergency operator Walker yanked her ponytail in their driveway as she ran out of their northern beaches home in December following a fight over a video game.
The 24-year-old Dee Why man fronted Manly Local Court hand-in-hand with Ms Ivkovic after pleading not guilty to common assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Ms Ivkovic, who gave birth to the couple’s son in July, has retracted her statement, saying she still loved Walker and overreacted.
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Walker was arrested at their Dee Why apartment on Prescott Avenue about 5pm on December 6 and in a triple-0 call made shortly beforehand his crying model girlfriend can be heard begging police to come to her aid.
Yelling is heard in the background and the operator asks: “hello are you there? Are there any weapons?”
A man can be then heard saying “no there’s no weapons, oh my god.”
“Can I please have someone here? … he’s trying to make me get off the street,” the tearful Ms Ivkovic said.
The operator sent an ambulance and paramedics treated the 24-year-old mum on the roadside for cuts to her shoulder, leg and feet.
Body-worn police camera footage played from a neighbour’s house where Ms Ivkovic took refuge shows the barefoot woman wearing shorts, a singlet and a towel while cradling her four-month-old son Leo.
While bouncing the baby on her lap, Ms Ivkovic said Walker got angry and called her a “f***wit” when she asked whether he wanted a fork or a spoon with his dinner.
“He was playing PlayStation, he got pissed off that I interrupted the game,” she said.
But on Tuesday Ms Ivkovic told the court she’d been in shock and hadn’t eaten the whole day, so didn’t have a firm grip on her emotions.
After calming down she began “recalling things differently” and “realised he didn’t grab my hair”.
Police prosecutor Senior Sergeant Craig Pullen suggested Ms Ivkovic was lying, which she denied.
In police footage Ms Ivkovic told officers: “I just don’t want it to get out … he plays footy.”
The stay-at-home mum agreed in court she knew her fiancee’s source of income but denied knowing such a scandal would place his sporting career in jeopardy.
“I wouldn’t remain in a relationship where I thought I was being abused, nor would I want to raise my son in that,” she said.
“Regardless of what happens today, we’re moving forward as a couple.”
When police entered their family home on December 6 and searched the clothes of the barefoot Walker, he admitted the couple had been arguing over the video game.
“She was upset I was playing PlayStation,” he said.
Walker told officers he walked over the road to follow his girlfriend when she left and “grabbed her shoulder”.
“I just said “can you talk to me?” and she’s fallen over,” he said.
Police took out an apprehended violence order against Walker on behalf of Ms Ivkovic, which does not prohibit the couple from still living together.
Neighbour Lauren O’Sullivan told the court she was standing a few metres away when she saw a shirtless man yank a woman’s ponytail — “very hard” — until she fell on the concrete.
“It was enough for me to feel quite distressed,” the eyewitness said.
Ms O’Sullivan’s partner Craig Monika said when she invited the upset woman inside their home, the man told her to “bugger off” and “mind your own business”.
“I said something like “calm down” he asked me if I “wanted a go”,” Mr Monika said.
Ms O’Sullivan said once the trio were inside and away from the “very angry and aggressive” man she noticed the woman “had a bloody bruise on her left shoulder, her left knee and her left foot”.
Mr Monika said he offered the bleeding woman a cloth but she declined and said there needed to be photos taken of what’s happened.
Former Manly hooker Matt Ballin was present in court alongside general manager of football John Bonasera and Walker’s agent Wayne Beavis on Tuesday.
Ex-Sea Eagles winger John Hopoate, who is being sentenced for driving a truck and a four-wheel-drive on a suspended licence, also appeared in court and spoke to the group.
The prosecution will call eight witnesses while four people will give evidence for the defence.
Senior Constable Clare Scully was one of the first officers on the scene and told the court no drugs or alcohol was involved in the incident.
Walker wasn’t officially stood down or sanctioned by Manly and played in the club’s first NRL trial loss to Cronulla on Saturday night.
Neither Manly nor the NRL responded to questions about whether Walker would be stood down with clubs set to receive compensation for benching players facing serious criminal charges as the code moves to rescue its image following a scandal-plagued off season.
The former NSW and Australian player was initially told to stay away from training after the domestic violence allegations were made public to “get his head right.”
The 2014 the Kangaroos player came under fire when he was fined $10,000 by the club for punching a hole in his apartment front door, fracturing his hand and missing a month of football.
Last May Walker missed six weeks with a fractured cheekbone after he and Melbourne centre Curtis Scott traded blows at AAMI Park.
Under a new plan to be enacted on Thursday, any club forced to stand down a player facing serious criminal charges in future will receive compensation as the NRL moves to rescue its image following a scandal-plagued off season.
The hearing was adjourned until May 10.
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