Ex-AFL player Shannon Grant has been released on bail after pleading guilty to three assaults on his former girlfriend, including stomping on her foot after she got out of a bath.
Magistrate Thomas Barrett sentenced the North Melbourne premiership player to six months in jail but his lawyers filed an urgent appeal against the ruling, meaning Grant spent just two hours in custody.
Grant, 41, pleaded guilty to seven charges, including unlawful assault and recklessly causing injury, admitting he assaulted his ex-girlfriend on multiple occasions in the months from June to December last year including at a Yarra Valley resort and on a beach.
Grant admitted that during an incident at Balgownie Estate Vineyard Resort & Spa, he stomped on the woman's bare foot and knocked her to the ground, causing her to hit her head and elbow on the floor. The woman sustained a cut on her head during another incident in which the pair physically struggled over her mobile phone when Grant suspected she had been texting another man, the court heard.
In a written victim impact statement, read by police prosecutor Dale Andrews, the woman detailed the physical and psychological impact of the assaults.
"I felt manipulated, betrayed and unable to feel safe," she said in the statement.
Grant's defence lawyer Nicole Spicer said her client was "deeply ashamed" of his behaviour and was taking steps to address his alcohol abuse and improve his mental health.
The court heard Grant had been through an alcohol rehabilitation program, participated in a men's behavioural change group and was seeing a psychologist.
Grant will reappear in court in August.
The National Sexual Assault, Family & Domestic Violence Counselling Line – 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week for any Australian who has experienced, or is at risk of, family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault.