Assault lands ex-AFL player Daniel Connors star in court
Former Richmond bad boy Daniel Connors let his temper get the better of him in a jailhouse assault after a guard told him to sit down.
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Former Richmond bad boy Daniel Connors has admitted punching a corrections officer after he refused to sit down in his cell.
The 35-year-old, who played 29 games with the Tigers over five years, appeared in the Sale Magistrates Court on Tuesday via a video link to seek a sentence indication on one charge of assault.
When Magistrate Alanna Duffy indicated she would convict and impose a reasonably substantial fine of $1000 were Connors to plead guilty, the former AFL star nodded his agreement to plead guilty.
A short police summary of facts was read out in court.
About 3pm on January 30 last year, four corrections officers were in the Napier Wing of the Fulham Correctional Centre in Sale when one officer entered Connors’ cell.
Connors stood up as the officer entered the cell and refused to sit down when asked to do so. He mumbled something under his breath and when the corrections officer turned towards a colleague, Connors punched him on the right side of his face.
The officer was not injured.
Connors was at the time in custody on charges of possession of an imitation firearm, theft of
a motor vehicle and committing an indictable offence while on bail.
He subsequently received a two-year adjourned undertaking on those charges that required him to pay a $2500 donation to the Salvation Army.
Ms Fayman said Connors was abusing a prescription medication and his life was really spiralling out of control when he assaulted the corrections officer.
In some respects, she said, it was lucky he was arrested at the time so that he could engage in treatment to straighten himself out and that was precisely what he had done.
He has successfully completed a 90-day residential rehab program that produced negative drug screens and abstained from drug use, she submitted.
Ms Fayman said Connors was now living with his long-term partner in Port Melbourne and has taken a very different outlook to life since the birth of his son.
He’s working full-time at Metro Rail while running his own freight business moving goods for petrol stations.
His lawyer pleaded with the court to consider an outcome that didn’t hinder the significant progress he has made in life. He’s also enrolled in an anger management program.
“He’s had a good standing in the community having had a professional career in football and continued to be involved in the sport in a local capacity,” Ms Fayman said.
Police submitted that hopefully the court took into consideration the fact the Corrections officer was on duty when he was assaulted.
In October last year, Connors successfully applied to the Melbourne Magistrates Court to have four charges relating to his alleged involvement in a violent car chase across the city’s inner suburbs thrown out.
Connors was sacked by the Tigers in 2012 over a string of off-field issues involving alcohol and sleeping pills.
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