Coward footy star is jailed for ’22-month campaign of terror against his police officer girlfriend – and he’s still blaming HER for his shocking behavior
Andrew Lovett, 39, choked, punched, and kicked ex-girlfriend Melanie Rowe
Charges include assault, recklessly and intentionally causing injury and stalking
Lovett had punched, kicked, humiliated and spat in the face of Ms Rowe
The coward’s victim, 36, is a talented policewoman based in Victoria
Lovett was sentenced to just eight months in jail and a community order
Ex-AFL star Andrew Lovett continued to blame his behaviour on the woman he had bashed, spat upon and tormented for 22-months despite pleading guilty to two-dozen domestic violence charges.
The disgraced ex-footballer, who pulled on the boots for Essendon between 2005 and 2009, will spend just eight months behind bars after being sentenced on Thursday.
His victim, Victoria Police officer Melanie Rowe, had been trapped in a vicious cycle of abuse that she could not escape
Lovett had blamed her at the time for his atrocious violence and continued to do so right up until his sentence.
Upon his release – which will come in under five months as he was credited for time already served while awaiting trial – Lovett will need to complete a 12-month community corrections order.
While the order means Lovett will receive drug, alcohol and anger management treatment, he will not be required to provide a single second of unpaid community work.
Before sentencing Lovett, Magistrate Jason Ong had staged a tough dressing down to the caged ex-footballer, who appeared in the Dandenong Magistrates’ Court via video link.
‘This was terrifying, ongoing, aggressive physical violence. It was controlling and manipulative behaviour,’ he told Lovett.
‘This was serious and sustained family violence … This family violence cannot be tolerated in our society.’
Lovett’s atrocities had taken a whopping eight pages to be summarised by police.
The former AFL star, who was awarded the prestigious Anzac Day medal in 2005 as best afield in the annual Essendon-Collingwood clash, pleaded guilty to 24 offences including assault, recklessly causing injury and stalking.
But the court heard Lovett had never really wanted to accept responsibility for his vicious treatment of Ms Rowe – an acting police officer who had gone out of her way to help the ex-footballer.
