Second cop stood down over leaked Dean Laidley photos

A second Victoria Police officer has been suspended and is likely to face criminal charges over leaked photos of Dean Laidley.

Dean Laidley was arrested in St Kilda over the weekend on stalking charges and other matters. Picture: Supplied

A second Victoria Police officer has been suspended and is likely to face criminal charges over the leaked photos of troubled football coach Dean Laidley dressed as a woman while in custody.

Laidley was arrested in St Kilda over the weekend on stalking charges and other matters.

Photos of him being interviewed at the police station and a mugshot of him with his custody number were circulating on social media on Sunday.

A senior constable alleged to have taken and disseminated the photos was suspended on Monday with pay and is likely to face criminal charges carrying up to two years' jail.

Victoria Police released a statement on Tuesday night confirming a second officer had been suspended in relation to the photos­. It said the second senior constable was also expected to be charged with unauthorised disclosure of information.

The head of the AFL Coaches ­Association said he hoped Laidley, current­ly in custody, was aware he still had friends in football ready to help him through his mental health battle.

Mark Brayshaw, a former North Melbourne player and board member, has been in contact­ with several of Laidley’s former teammates concerned about his welfare amid reports he has a psychiatric illness.

While many of those past teammates were aware Laidley had struggled at times, the plight he finds himself in has shocked them. The 53-year-old is on remand­ and will face the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Monday on seven charges including stalking, after being arrested in St Kilda on Saturday night.

The AFLCA chief executive said those supporting Laidley were aware of the severity of the charges. But given the nature of the attention the case has attracted, with Laidley dressed as a woman when arrested, Brayshaw said they wanted him to know he would be supported.

“It is a complex scenario,” he said. “The support acknowledges the fact that he has been charged with some very serious offences and, equally, it must be difficult for his family. For his teammates and friends … somehow they want him to be aware they are not laughing at him, that they are there to help him and that he is not alone.”

The Australian was told some at North Melbourne had suspect­ed Laidley, considered a private man, was struggling with a pharmaceutical or illicit drug problem.

Triple premiership coach Mick Malthouse, who coached Laidley at West Coast and then employed him as an assistant coach at Collingwood and Carlton, described him as “very loyal”.

He said he had lunch with Laidley not long after their exit from Carlton and then “it just dried up”.

Malthouse told Melbourne radio station 3AW: “I don’t know exactly what it was, but he was in immense pain and I remember him saying he was on these painkillers and it was quite debilitating and, of course, he has had some issues­ with his son, so he has been through a hell of a lot.”

It is understood Laidley tried to assist son Kane, who played under him at Maribyrnong Park last year, after he had some legal troubles in recent years.

“No (I wasn’t aware of a mental health concern) but on the same token, the pressure he was under, both physically and emotionally at home with his child, or one of his children, and the fact he was trying to make ends meet and he had this disease, I wouldn’t have thought that would have done the mind any good at all,” Malthouse said.