Tarryn Thomas escapes conviction over revenge-porn threat to ex girlfriend
Tarryn Thomas told his ex-girlfriend he had leaked intimate videos of her after he took offence to a comment she made about his mother.
Police & Courts
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Troubled North Melbourne midfielder Tarryn Thomas has escaped conviction over a revenge porn threat against an ex-girlfriend after a magistrate found he had turned his life around.
Thomas, 23, appeared in Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday where he was ordered to donate $1000 to charity and placed on diversion after he admitted to a downgraded charge of using a carriage service to harass.
Magistrate Julie Grainger accepted Thomas, who was stood down by North Melbourne after he was charged, had taken responsibility for his actions, completed behavioural change programs and worked with an Indigenous start-up.
“You have obviously taken this matter very seriously,” she said.
“You have worked really hard to better yourself.”
Thomas, who also goes by the last name Trindall, admitted threatening to leak intimate videos of himself and an ex-girlfriend that had been recorded consensually.
On July 17 last year, the footballer had been arguing with the woman over Instagram when she made a comment about his mother which he took offence to.
He then told her he had leaked the videos.
“The complainant believed Mr Trindall had distributed those videos but in fact he had not,” Ms Grainger said.
Thomas was initially charged with threatening to distribute an intimate image but it was downgraded to using a carriage service to harass at Tuesday’s hearing.
If Thomas pays his donation by next month, the charge will be struck out and no criminal conviction recorded.
Ms Grainger said the threat was made in a series of heated messages between the pair who had just broken up.
She accepted Thomas was under emotional stress at the time as he struggled with mental health issues, alcohol abuse and the recent death of his grandmother.
“Your feelings might be hurt, it’s in the context of a relationship breakdown … but it’s no excuse for responding in the way you did,” she said.
“What Mr Trindall is taking responsibility for today is acknowledging those Instagram messages were harassing, inappropriate, unacceptable.”
Earlier, Thomas’ lawyer Sally Vardy said her client had engaged in “specific offending programs” including behavioural change and social media usage.
She added he had worked as a cleaner for an Indigenous start-up company, but had since returned to the AFL.
Thomas was reinstated to North Melbourne in May, playing for the club’s VFL side before returning to the senior team.
He was pick eight in the 2018 draft and has played more than 60 games for North Melbourne. Flanked by his lawyers and supporters, he refused to comment as he left court.
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