Alice Coster: How low will disgraceful Ricky Nixon go?

The former AFL football agent was again draining the time of everyone involved in Melbourne’s legal system this week when he was found guilty of assaulting a postman — so why hasn’t this man been jailed?

Bashing up and scalping his ex-fiancee wasn’t enough, so now the poor postie is copping it.

For crying out loud, just how low will Ricky Nixon go? And more to the point why does it keep happening?

The disgraced “don’t call me disgraced” former AFL football agent was again draining the time of everyone involved in Melbourne’s legal system on Tuesday. This time back in court for assaulting a mailman during a so-called parcel delivery gone wrong.

Representing himself, Nixon was doing what Nixon does best, claiming it was he who was the victim. “Your Honour, I was just defending me missus’ honour.” Or thereabouts.

Just how a cretin of a man like Nixon, who has a history of assault against women, can have the audacity to say he was defending his partner to squirm out of another assault charge, is about as low as you can go.

But it also begs the question – why has this man not been jailed?

Ricky Nixon claims he was the victim but was found guilty of assaulting the postman. Picture: AAP Image

While we should not expect anything less from this pond-scum grub, his continued and blatant disregard and mockery of our judiciary serves as a reminder of just how far we have to go in our legal system, especially when dealing with domestic violence abusers and manipulators like Nixon.

Because it was just over ten years ago when Nixon was again fronting up to court – actually there have been several incidents and assault charges since, Channel 9’s Seb Costello can attest to that.

But it was just over ten years ago when Nixon appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, this time pleading guilty for beating up his then fiancee Tegan Gould.

Beating up is putting it mildly. Scalping, menacing and threatening to kill her is more factually correct.

At the time Nixon couldn’t get out of the headlines for drink driving and the affair he’d had with 17-year-old schoolgirl Kim Duthie. Photographs of a then 48-year-old Nixon in his underwear during an alleged cocaine-fuelled bender with the teenager were all over the media.

While he has all but lost his relevance now, back then Nixon was a big deal alpha-male.

A former player for St Kilda and other VFL and AFL clubs, he went on to become the game’s most influential player agent, representing players from St Kilda captain Nick Riewoldt, to Gary Ablett Senior and er, Wayne Carey.

Nixon met Tegan Gould, a then 28-year-old trainee dental assistant and 20-odd years his junior in a Melbourne bar in 2011.

Nixon carried clout and loved to threaten – from reporters, to women, or anyone he viewed was in his way – always resorting to the lowest common denominator.

Time has passed but none of that has changed.

He met Tegan Gould, a then 28-year-old trainee dental assistant and 20-odd years his junior in a Melbourne bar in 2011. I remember it well because I wrote the story.

Gould was naive and impressionable, which is pretty much how you should be at that age.

Nixon was powerful and an opportunist. Even at the time I remember feeling the ick as he pawed over the doe-eyed blonde like the cat who got the cream. I still feel grubby from it all.

Two years later he was facing court after ripping Gould’s hair clean from her skull.

Nixon tried to strangle her with such force during the violent assault she thought his thumbs would push through the back of her throat.

Nixon spat on her face and then held a knife to her neck saying he was going to kill her.

She later heard Nixon in the hallway on the phone telling someone he was going to kill her. It was at that moment that Gould chose to run from his Port Melbourne apartment and call the police from a nearby alleyway.

Nixon appeared in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court about ten years ago, this time pleading guilty for beating up his then fiancee, Tegan Gould.

Gould would later file a victim impact statement, detailing the aftermath of the abuse:

“As a result of the assault the initial embarrassment and humiliation perceived from family, friends, work colleagues and the public, I felt the need to change my identity/appearance,” Gould wrote.

“I cut and coloured my hair as the colour reminded me of the traumatic memory seeing my hair – that has been ripped out of my head during the attack – scattered on the floor.

“Emotionally my anxiety, sweats, nightmares, fear, loss of confidence, loss of trust in people, and panic attacks made me feel depressed.

“I had to seek counselling and required sleeping aids as there were nights I couldn’t escape the image of the event from my mind.

“I have trouble trusting people now. This has affected both my personal and professional relationships.

“Trusting men has been a hurdle that I’m still trying to overcome.

“I hope this gives strength to other women who are in violent relationships. This is a cycle that needs to be broken.”

A 48-year-old Nixon Nixon made headlines for the affair he had with 17-year-old schoolgirl Kim Duthie. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Gould’s sad statement was powerful at the time. But not powerful enough for Nixon to serve time.

Because he was a powerful white man with no prior convictions, he was given a lenient sentence because he pleaded guilty. The sentence was later debated in the headlines with then Premier Denis Napthine calling for a review of domestic violence penalties.

A fat lot of good that has done 10 years on.

It is a sad fate knowing that writing about this vile man will only serve to make him think he is still newsworthy. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Nixon claimed remorse, issuing a statement that he had openly pleaded guilty to save his and Gould’s family from a protracted court case. What a guy.

I’d like to think Gould’s words and victim impact statement would carry more power as a result of the #metoo movement and violence towards women being put back on the national agenda. But I’m not so sure.

It is a sad fate knowing that writing about this vile man will only serve to make him think he is still newsworthy. It also comes with the knowledge he will no doubt resort to his usual bullying tactics, openly vilifying this reporter as he has done so often in the past – once telling his (now dwindled) group of followers to send me cans of Pal dog food in the mail.

But even the mailman is not safe from Nixon now.

Nixon will be back in court for his sentence hearing on June 27. I hope the magistrate throws the book at him. But in the case of history repeating itself, we all know that this is unlikely, which is just a disgrace as Nixon himself.

Toot Toot.