AFL legend Nicky Winmar has been charged with two counts of assault and one count of intentionally choking a person, court documents have revealed. The 59-year-old former St Kilda star faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday, where an application to revoke his bail was dismissed.
Winmar, whose legal name is Neil, allegedly committed the offences on 18 July. The charges include two assaults and one count of “without lawful excuse intentionally choke, strangle or suffocate” a person on the same date. Details of the alleged incidents were not aired during the brief hearing.
His lawyer, Tess Theocharous, told the court that Winmar is participating in a court integrated services program (CISP) as a condition of his bail, which was granted on 18 July. She requested an adjournment to allow him to engage further with the program, noting he had attended an initial appointment and had another scheduled later that day.
Magistrate Vincenzo Caltabiano adjourned the case for a month. Winmar remains on bail. The AFL great, who played 230 games for St Kilda and 21 for the Western Bulldogs, was the first Aboriginal footballer to reach 200 games. He is known for standing up to racism, notably in 1993 when he lifted his guernsey and declared “I’m black and I’m proud to be black” after being racially abused by a Collingwood crowd.
