
On May 2, a famous person was arrested in a suburban Melbourne street.
You may have heard about it.
Dean Laidley will be a familiar name if you follow AFL. Laidley was once a big-star AFL player, and then a coach. He was known, during the time he played for West Coast Eagles and North Melbourne, by the nicknames ‘Junkyard Dog’ and ‘Tunnel’.
Even if you don’t recognise the name, you may recall seeing his photo because it was splashed on the front pages of the Herald Sun and the West Australian last week – a 53-year-old man wearing a dress, a wig and make-up being interrogated by police after his arrest.
But do you know what he was arrested for? Because that’s important. And in the entirely justified outrage about the fact that photos of him were taken secretly by a police officer on the night of his arrest, shared with others and then leaked and published in the media, the actual crime for which Dean Laidley was arrested and charged has been largely overshadowed.
Women And Violence: The Hidden Numbers. Post continues below.
So just in case you missed it:
Dean Laidley was arrested for stalking. In court on Monday, it was alleged that Laidley was arrested outside the home of a woman he had mounted a campaign of harassment against – including calling her 43 times in one day, staking out her house, taking multiple photos of her home and its entrance and threatening to run her over in his car.
The ABC reported: “Police informant Senior Constable James Maddock told the court the woman was worried about Mr Laidley being released into rehabilitation.
“The victim is in short petrified of the accused,” he said. “She details in one of her statements she is exhausted by this and it’s having a significant impact. She’s fearful of doing ordinary duties like going for shopping.”
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