Isiah Winder: West Coast player agrees to court diversion after assault
A West Coast Eagles young gun does not remember assaulting a tourist from Hong Kong because he was too drunk at the time, a court has heard.
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A West Coast Eagles young gun was so drunk on the night he headbutted and abused a tourist from Hong Kong that he has no recollection of the assault, a court has heard.
The Geelong Magistrates’ Court heard on Wednesday that after a night of heavy drinking in early December Isiah Winder, 20, opened the door of a car rented by the tourist and his girlfriend outside the R Hotel, Geelong, before he headbutted the victim twice and called him a “stupid f***.”
Winder, who has played seven games for West Coast, was in Geelong for the AFL / AFLPA Indigenous and Multicultural Players Summit, the court heard, which ran from late November to early December last year.
Dressed in a white shirt and black tie, Winder, represented by Dr David Grace KC, agreed to a court diversion plan that requires he pay $1500 to the Mark West Foundation and write a letter of apology to his victim.
People are eligible for a diversion plan if they accept responsibility for the offence, however at the conclusion of a diversion plan the charges are generally dropped and no finding of guilt made.
Documents released by the court reveal Winder was charged with two counts of unlawful assault against the tourist.
A prosecutor told the court that the victim and his girlfriend noticed Winder walk along Bellarine St in Geelong in a state of heavy intoxication about midnight on Saturday, December 3.
Winder approached their car and opened one of the doors before grabbing the victim by the shirt and assaulting him, the court heard.
The victim, who the court heard has no injuries but has declined to correspond with the court over the assault, hid in the foyer of the R Hotel - where Winder later returned to go to his own room.
Prosecutors said on the arrival of police, Winder was too drunk to be spoken to.
Dr Grace said Winder had attended a function on the Saturday evening related to the Summit in which the “alcohol flowed freely” before he went to the Geelong Hotel, where he continued to drink, and left when he began to feel ill.
He said his client had “no recollection of what happened.”
Dr Grace said the actions were “out of character” and that Winder had not drunk since the night of incident.
He said Winder wanted to forge a successful football career and “right the wrong” of that evening, and said Winder had “excelled” in the AFL through his determination despite “great hurdles put in his path”.
Judicial Registrar Michael Bolte said Mr Winder was a “disciplined and determined” individual who had learnt a “genuine lesson in life.”
Mr Bolte said he doubted Winder would be involved with the criminal justice system again.
“I wish you all the best,” he said to the sportsman. No conviction was recorded.
Judicial Registrar Bolte said the diversion will run until November 8 this year.
Winder was taken at pick 57 in 2020 AFL draft.
He was delisted at the end of the most recent season, before he was re-selected in the Rookie Draft.
The AFL and the West Coast Eagles have been contacted for comment.
Originally published as Isiah Winder: West Coast player agrees to court diversion after assault
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