Ex-wife Candice Alley horrified by Grant Hackett’s Crown casino meltdown

EXCLUSIVE: CANDICE Alley says she is “filled with horror” over Grant Hackett’s casino meltdown, in which he lost their son and ended up semi-naked in Crown casino.

Grant Hackett and Candice Alley with their children in happier times.

EXCLUSIVE: CANDICE Alley says she is “filled with horror” over Grant Hackett’s casino meltdown, in which he lost their son and ended up wandering semi-naked through Crown casino.

Breaking a two-year public silence on the controversial collapse of her marriage to the troubled Olympic swimmer, Alley told the Herald Sun she now feared for the safety of the couple’s four-year-old twins, Charlize and Jagger.

“These latest allegations fill me with horror,” she said.

“As a mother, I am devastated by what I have read in the newspaper and seen on television.

“The thought of our children being at risk, by either allegedly wandering around a hotel in the middle of the night or being left alone in a hotel room, is extremely shocking to me.”

HACKETT LOSES SON AT CROWN CASINO

FALLEN SWIM STAR TO ATTEND MALIBU CLINIC

FATHER SAYS HACKET ‘IN DENIAL’

PICTURES: HACKETT’S NIGHT OF DESTRUCTION

Alley has also questioned her ex-husband’s account that Jagger escaped from their sixth floor luxury apartment, leading to the frantic search that led to his being photographed, with just a singlet around his waist, in the Crown foyer around 1.35am on Saturday.

Jagger was reportedly found on the 20th floor, 14 floors above the apartment Hackett was staying in.

“I seriously doubt that Jagger would, given his nature, wander away. Nor do I understand how he could physically open a heavy hotel room door,” Alley said.

“As a mother, I would like to thank all the people so far who had the decency to come forward and say what they saw.

“At this stage, I do not wish to say any more.’’

News_Rich_Media: Grant Hackett was photographed in the Crown casino foyer shirtless, searching for his four-year-old son. Courtesy Channel Ten

Sydney-based Hackett — who has now checked himself into rehabilitation in Los Angeles to battle an addiction to Stilnox and other medication — said Jagger had escaped from the Crown apartment.

“Unfortunately, my adventurous son decided to go wandering in the early hours,’’ he said.

Alley’s distraught mother, Sheri Giannarelli, launched a stinging attack on her former son-in-law, telling the Herald Sun: “I can’t believe that this man can get on TV and (claim Jagger wandered off),” she said.

“They’re my grandchildren. It can’t go on any more. Candice has endured too much and now her children are suffering.

“I feel deeply sorry for all the women out there who are going through the same heartache. It is not right.”

Mrs Giannarelli also criticised Crown, questioning why staff did not contact polices.

“Crown should have called the police. They have a duty of care. They should have contacted the police so they could have had these children safe,” she said.

Crown refused to comment.

News_Image_File: Candice Alley with son Jagger this week. Picture: David Caird

The Herald Sun understands Alley’s lawyers are considering demanding of Crown access to all CCTV footage from the night showing Hackett and the children, and any documents detailing any room service or mini bar expenditure.

On Tuesday, a witness claimed to have seen the Olympic champion in an agitated state in a lift, with either Jagger or his twin sister Charlize, two hours before the foyer incident.

The witness told the Herald Sun Hackett was exposed in an open hotel robe, and appeared to be incoherent and unaware of where he was.

Suzanne, who did not want her surname published, says she noticed Hackett standing in the lift foyer with two security guards beside him, “one carrying his daughter.”

“He just seemed to be standing there, not really focusing on anything,” the witness says.

News_Image_File: How the events surrounding Grant Hackett unfolded.

Hackett left Australia for the US on Tuesday, apparently for treatment of his addiction to sleeping medication Stilnox.

But at LA airport, he denied he was going into rehabilitation, saying he was attending a retreat.

“I’m obviously just going away to have a break,’’ he said.

“I’ve had an extended period of, I guess, stress and lots of other things taking place in my life so ... just looking forward to having a little bit of rest and recovery and time off and recharging the batteries,’’ he said.

But his father, Neville Hackett, said the family had staged an intervention.

“He thinks he just needs a bit of a recharge and a rest, and that’s probably what’s in his mind,’’ Mr Hackett said.

News_Image_File: Grant Hackett in Crown casino foyer semi-naked.

“We sought expert advice and we had a meeting with these experts and some of his friends. And we decided to take the action with Grant without him knowing.’’

The 1500m freestyle champion has been battling addiction to Stilnox, a prescription sleeping pill and anti-anxiety drug which in 2012 he publicly branded “evil”.

This recent incident is not the first time Hackett has made headlines for his erratic behaviour.

In May 2012 the Sunday Herald Sun published police photographs of the carnage left by Hackett when he trashed the couple’s high-rise Southbank apartment on Derby Day 2011.

They showed shocking images, including one side of an interior door ripped apart, Alley’s beloved grand piano overturned, plaster walls punctured with large holes from punches, equipment on the ground, a toppled Christmas tree, smashed picture frames, and bottles of alcoholic spirits littered across the floor.

Police who attended were told Hackett — who weighs nearly 100kg and is almost 2m tall — grabbed his wife and threw her against a window.

Hackett’s camp has disputed this version of events.

The couple’s twins were in the room at the time, police were told.

At one point, police were told Hackett had one of the twins in his arms as he hurled furniture around the apartment. Hackett’s camp has also disputed this.

News_Image_File: Grant Hackett at Los Angeles International Airport.

When police arrived at the apartment, the Herald Sun understands they were concerned for the safety of Alley and her children.

At the time, Hackett said it was “all a bit of an unfortunate misunderstanding”.

“Candice is 100 per cent OK, our apartment is 100 per cent OK and so are our twins,” Hackett told Channel 9 days later.

“(We) came home and had a few private issues we needed to deal with, and we have dealt with those. Everything is OK. Our relationship is great.”

Alley said at the time: “Nothing happened. Everything is absolutely incredible. We are the happiest we have ever been.”

Six months later, on May 3, 2012, the couple announced their split after Hackett was again involved in an alcohol-fuelled night at Crown Casino during and after the Logie Awards.

A statement at the time read: “Candice and I have separated. I want to be dignified in my approach to everything and ensure the children’s needs are paramount and put first.”