Former NRL star sentenced after DV incident
Former NRL star Ken McGuinness’ athletic prowess once entertained rugby league fans everywhere, but two strikes to the face of a female has seen him narrowly escape jail.
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Former NSW Origin representative Kenneth James McGuinness’s athleticism and skill entertained rugby league fans across the 1990s, but two strikes to the face of a woman inside the walls of a Raby home has seen the retired athlete narrowly escape jail.
The 43-year-old, standing at 191cm, struck the woman twice in the face causing blood to spurt all over the tiles after an argument about alleged infidelity.
About 10pm on February 23, McGuinness was ordered to leave the home by the victim but instead ignored the demands and went to bed.
The woman followed him and poured water over McGuinness as he lay in bed.
The 43-year-old then struck her twice and pushed her to the floor.
The agreed facts reveal the crying victim screamed “help me, help me, help me”.
Neighbours heard the woman’s yells and contacted police, who arrived and arrested the former household name.
After signing an AVO at the police station which barred him from returning to the Raby address, McGuinness was released; however, only 15 minutes later was spotted by police travelling to the home in a cab.
Police followed the taxi to the address and watched McGuinness walk out before arresting him for the second time that night.
Magistrate Shane McAnulty, sentencing McGuinness after he pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and breaching an apprehended domestic violence order, told the 43-year-old he was seriously considering sending him to jail.
“If it had not been a plea of guilty, I would have no problem with a full-time jail sentence,” he said.
“(Domestic violence) has become an epidemic in society.”
The powerfully-built man stood tall, holding his hands behind his back, as he was sentenced to a 15-month intensive correction order, 150 hours community service and 12-month community correction order.
The court heard that McGuinness has recently begun a 20-week domestic violence course and regretted his actions.