Michael Slater In Sydney Hospital On Mental Health Grounds As Domestic Violence Charges Dismissed
Published - 27 Apr 2022, 01:12 PM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 01:08 AM
Former Australian cricketer Michael Slater was taken to a hospital in Sydney on the basis of mental health grounds. The 52-year-old was supposed to appear before a Waverley Local Court on Wednesday for the domestic violence charges against him in October last year.
Slater was charged on the grounds of allegedly using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend and stalking and intimidating his former partner.
Michael Slater was arrested in December for harassing former partner
Slater sent 66 text messages and made 18 phone calls to his ex-partner, Melanie Livesey, over about two-and-a-half hours on the night of December 14 and was subsequently arrested for harassing her.
According to a Sydney Morning Herald report, it was revealed in court on Wednesday that Slater would not be attending to hear the judgment on his application because he was back in Northern Beaches Hospital following a fresh incident on Tuesday night.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Lachlan Kirby told the court that the cricketer-turned-commentator had been detained by police and paramedics on Tuesday night.
Michael Slater has a significant illness: Magistrate Ross Hudson
According to the report by SMH, Magistrate Ross Hudson said there appeared to have been “somewhat of an unravelling in terms of the health of the applicant”.
He noted that Slater had a history of mental illness but no prior history of offending. He also said Slater had completed a period of “effectively a form of quasi-custody” in rehab, during which time he had “effectively [eradicated] alcohol”.
“He has a significant illness and has done significant work since that period of time, and he should be proud of that,” he said.
Hudson said Slater’s December AVO breach, in which he used a WhatsApp account displaying his initials to send his ex-partner 66 messages, “appears in many ways to be a cry for help”.
“I am of the view that it’s better to treat the cause rather than the consequences,” Hudson said.
Mr Slater will also be subject to an AVO from his ex-partner for five years.
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