Dean Laidley appears in court partially dressed as a woman as police allege he 'threatened to run down his ex-partner in his car after she dumped him and was caught with ice in his bra'
- Dean Laidley has appeared in court to apply for bail without his blonde wig
- The former AFL coach hopes to be released to a mental health clinic to treat him
- Laidley is accused of stalking a woman he met on Tinder but later dumped him
- Court hears Laidley suffers from 'severe drug abuse' and is at risk of offending
- Alleged victim claims she is petrified of Laidley, who is accused of stalking her
Former AFL player and coach Dean Laidley has appeared in a Melbourne court via video link dressed partly as a woman.
Laidley was bailed on Monday after being arrested and charged for allegedly stalking an ex-lover he had met on Tinder.
A wigless and tired-looking Laidley appeared in court from prison dressed in what appeared to be green prison garb - his breasts visible on the video screen.
Court heard AFL legend Dean Laidley threatened to run down his ex partner in his car
Former football coach Dean Laidley was picked up by police dressed as a woman with methylamphetamine inside a bra.
The former AFL player and coach was charged with stalking and drug possession.
He was bailed amid concerns the delays caused by the COVID-19 crisis could have seen Laidley kept behind bars for up to two years before his case was heard.
He will be released from the Melbourne Assesment Prison, in Melbourne's CBD, on Monday evening.
On release, Laidley must remain confined to a rehabilitation clinic in Geelong for the next month before returning to court for a progress report.
The matter became national news after photographs of Laidley dressed as a woman were taken by police officers and leaked.
The Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard Laidley allegedly began harassing the woman after buying her an apartment.
The court heard Laidley had repeatedly abused the woman, calling her a ‘sl*t’ and a ‘c*nt’ after she broke off the relationship but held onto the apartment.
Police allege Laidley threatened to run her down in his car and later sent her a photo of himself with a belt around his neck and threatened self harm.
The woman claimed she was so terrified of Laidley that she refused to leave the apartment to shop or go to work.
She claimed Laidley had ‘hit rock bottom’ in November last year, describing him as ‘lonely, depressed and on drugs’.
The court heard Laidley had spent the last week locked in a psychiatric unit of the Melbourne Assessment Prison.
He had been arrested last week with quantities of methylamphetamine allegedly stashed in his bra.
The court heard on April 4, Laidley arrived at the woman's house in the dead of night and began ringing the doorbell, but she wasn't home.
At 8am - about seven hours later, Laidley was still there waiting in her drive way.
He allegedly abused the woman for 40 minutes before leaving.
Police issued a warrant for his arrest and Laidley turned up to be interviewed days later.
He was bailed and had an intervention order placed on him not to harass the woman.
The court was told Laidley was at no risk to the public and ought to be released on bail
But police claim Laidley didn't take the warning and on April 25 he allegedly began a campaign of intimidating the woman.
Again, he turned up at her home and took photos of her vehicle and her balcony.
He then began to telephone her.
The court heard the victim would try to calm Laidley down, but grew increasingly afraid of Laidley's alleged eratic behaviour.
On May 1, Laidley turned up at her office and placed flowers on the windscreen of her car.
The next day he allegedly phoned her 43 times before calling police himself and telling them to go to her house.
The victim called 000 herself that evening after seeing Laidley outside her home.
Police showed-up but Laidley wasn't there.
But they later found a photo on his phone of the police car parked outside his victim's home.
Laidley was arrested later that night outside her apartment and taken to St Kilda police station.
Days later, on May 4, police picked Laidley up again with a small amount of what they believed was methamphetamine or 'ice' in his possession.
This time Laidley was locked up.
AFL great Dean Laidley in happier times. He was arrested amid allegations he is a stalker
The court heard Laidley is accused of breaching an intervention order more than 100 times and had tried to obtain CCTV footage of his victim from her apartment block.
Laidley told police his alleged victim had pressured him into buying her an apartment while seeing another man.
He claimed once the sale of the apartment had settled, the woman dumped him and withdrew all contact.
Police claimed Laidley was extremely upset on the last day he was arrested and claimed to be visiting his son, but could not remember the address.
He denied he had intentionally breached an intervention order, but conceded he had been close to his victim's property.
Police opposed bail, claiming that Laidley remained a risk to his victim and the general public.
'The accused has shown no regard to the intervention order or the conditions imposed on him and has blatantly breached it continually,' a prosecutor said.
'He is stalking the victim and keeping her under surveillance.'
The court heard police feared Laidley might hurt the woman should he be set free.
'Police hold serious concerns for the victim because the accused has caused her to to feel isolated and fear for her safety,' a prosecutor said.
Police further claimed Laidley's drug problem meant the general community was also at risk from him.
'The victim is petrified of the accused at the moment,' the prosector said. 'She's exhausted.'
Dean Laidley (above) has asked to be released as he's no risk to the alleged victim
Laidley's barrister Philip Dunn QC argued his client was at no risk to his alleged victim and ought be released on bail under strict supervision.
He said Laidley's victim had previously tried to get an intervention order against him withdrawn and had claimed she was also concerned for his mental health.
Mr Dunn said the woman had told police his client had complied with the order, was struggling with his mental health and had acted 'out of character'.
Laidley is expected to appear before the court again in June.
Laidley began his AFL career with West Coast in 1987 before moving to North Melbourne, where he was a part of the 1996 premiership team.
He later became senior coach of the Kangaroos from 2003 to 2009, and most recently had served as coach of Maribyrnong Park in the semi-professional Essendon District Football League in Melbourne.
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