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.
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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.
Cousinsâ 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 Cousinsâ 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 Cousinsâ latest arrest follows controversial interview
Zempilas was asked about the interview after Cousins was arrested on 15 charges in the days following itâs airing on Channel 7.
He defended the fact that Cousins had been paid to appear on camera, saying it was âworth a shotâ to see if it helped Cousins turn his life around.
âIt was worth a shot, it was worth a shot. Benâs life wasnât heading into a rosy direction prior to us doing all of this ... it wasnât heading into a good spot anyway,â Zempilas told 6PR Perth Radio back in April.
âSo if sitting down, talking about some of those things helped be the trigger, it was worth a shot.
âThe specific times that I was interviewing him, he seemed pretty good. We were with him for about the course of a week.
âThere were two long sessions I did and in those two long sessions I thought he was good, I thought he had it together.
âBut you also saw in the program times when he wasnât with me but the producers were with him filming other bits and pieces and he didnât appear to be as together, and that was a normal week for Ben, unfortunately.
âPeriods of having it together and periods of not having it together.â
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With Yahoo Sport Staff