Fallen AFL great Ben Cousins hit with seven fresh charges

Fallen AFL champion Ben Cousins faces seven more charges of breaching a family violence restraining order at his trial later this year.

The former West Coast Eagles captain has been behind bars since April after police found him in East Victoria Park with about 2.5 grams of methamphetamine in his possession.

Cousins pleaded guilty to the offence and was fined $1500 but pleaded not guilty to aggravated stalking and 13 restraining order breaches.

HEARTBROKEN: AFL player rocked by tragic death of family member, 8

‘NOT LISTENING’: Adam Goodes takes aim at politicians

Those charges relate to his ex-partner Maylea Tinecheff, the mother of his two children, whom he allegedly repeatedly tried to contact via phone.

The Brownlow medallist has since been charged with seven more breaches and will stand trial on October 28.

Cousins’ latest arrest comes weeks after a controversial interview on Channel 7, which was conducted by AFL commentator Basil Zempilas.

Many viewers of the interview were troubled by Cousins’ demeanour on the program, suggesting it was irresponsible to interview the former West Coast star when it seemed clear his struggles with drug addiction were ongoing.

Ben Cousins’ latest arrest follows controversial interview

Zempilas was asked about the interview after Cousins was arrested on 15 charges in the days following it’s airing on Channel 7.

He defended the fact that Cousins had been paid to appear on camera, saying it was ‘worth a shot’ to see if it helped Cousins turn his life around.

“It was worth a shot, it was worth a shot. Ben’s life wasn’t heading into a rosy direction prior to us doing all of this ... it wasn’t heading into a good spot anyway,” Zempilas told 6PR Perth Radio back in April.

“So if sitting down, talking about some of those things helped be the trigger, it was worth a shot.

“The specific times that I was interviewing him, he seemed pretty good. We were with him for about the course of a week.

“There were two long sessions I did and in those two long sessions I thought he was good, I thought he had it together.

“But you also saw in the program times when he wasn’t with me but the producers were with him filming other bits and pieces and he didn’t appear to be as together, and that was a normal week for Ben, unfortunately.

“Periods of having it together and periods of not having it together.”

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

With Yahoo Sport Staff