Footballer Joseph Salmon denied bail in Darwin Local Court

A Territory footballer has made a new attempt for bail after he allegedly breached his previous order by returning to Darwin in a bid to return to Aussie Rules. Read what was determined in court.

Joseph Salmon Picture: Mark Wilson

A Northern Territory footballer accused of more than 30 domestic violence-related offences allegedly returned to Darwin in a desperate bid to return to the game and become a DV “ambassador”.

Joseph Salmon appeared by audio visual link in the Darwin Local Court on Friday after allegedly breaking his bail conditions by returning to the Territory and contacting both his complainants.

Mr Salmon had been bailed to an address in Geelong last August, however he was rearrested when he made police at an NT hospital aware he had breached his orders last week.

He again applied for bail on Friday, this time to a remote Territory community, however a strong Crown case and his previous breach persuaded judge Ben O’Loughlin to keep him in custody.

Joseph Salmon for North Shore.

The court heard Salmon had contacted the two complainants in relation to several matters, which dated back to 2020 and included more than 50 offences.

Prosecutor Tamara Grealy said Mr Salmon had allegedly contacted one of the complainants by phone on August 25.

After the call was terminated he then allegedly went on to contact her a further six times, and continued to do so thereafter.

Ms Grealy said Mr Salmon had apologised via text stating “all I wanted to say is that I’m sorry I’ve put you (and the other complainant) through the shit”.

“There’s admissions there, plainly, in the language that he’s using,” she said.

“The impact on (the complainant) for being called out of the blue at one o’clock in the morning by the offender makes it plain this isn’t just somebody who wants to express some level of remorse.

“He has no regard for the impact that his conduct is having.”

On the same day, he called the other complainant 26 times.

Then, on September 3, Mr Salmon asked one of the complainants to pick him up from the airport because he was returning to Darwin.

Joseph Salmon leaves Geelong Law Courts earlier this year. Picture: Brad Fleet

“She asked him not to call again and hung up,” Ms Grealy said.

Mr Salmon called the first complainant from a private number and told her not to tell anyone he was in Darwin at 3am on September 7.

“He indicated that he was going to play football, which was part of the reason he was in Darwin,” she said.

“He indicated he wanted to become an ambassador for domestic violence as he continually harassed this complainant.”

Mr Salmon allegedly asked the complainant to come to a Humpty Doo property and to burn her witness statements on October 1.

“She said no way, he’ll kill me out there, and then he started asking questions about her son, which she found particularly menacing,” Ms Grealy said.

NAAJA lawyer Ganur Maynard said his client had returned to Darwin “out of desperation” but now understood the “gravity of the consequences” of his actions.

“He won’t be making the mistake of picking up the phone (again),” he said.

However, judge O’Loughlin refused bail, saying he had no confidence Salmon would comply by the bail conditions.

Originally published as Footballer Joseph Salmon denied bail in Darwin Local Court