‘Fear for their lives’: women in Swans probe in hiding
Steve Larkin |
Two women at the centre of an investigation involving five Sydney Swans players are suffering severe stress and anxiety, their lawyer says, in fear for their lives after being subjected to “abhorrent” actions.
John Karantzis, acting for two of the three women involved, has accused the AFL club’s hierarchy of not yet being fully transparent.
The alleged victims are also reportedly considering legal action against the Swans.
Sydney banned Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, Nick Blakey, Riley Bice and James Jordon for the rest of the AFL season after saying the players breached club standards at East Melbourne’s Pullman Hotel on Monday morning.
Victoria Police Sex Crimes Squad detectives are investigating an alleged assault in a hotel room. No charges have been laid.
Mr Karantzis said the two women he represented, who are understood to be adult entertainers, had gone to ground.
“There’s a lot of interest in this case and they are literally in hiding and they are suffering,” he told Melbourne radio station 3AW on Friday.
“They (the two women) are suffering severe stress and anxiety.
“They’re actually fearing for their life … they’ve got a reasonable basis for their fears.”
Mr Karantzis couldn’t detail specifics, citing the ongoing investigation which he said would take some time to complete.
But he said “things got out of hand and a line was crossed”.
“With what has been alleged, these women were subjected to the most disgusting actions and behaviour I have ever heard about in my 28 years as a lawyer,” he said.
“These women already had a difficult job.
“And what they were subjected to, it is alleged, was demeaning, abhorrent and simply not moral or acceptable … they do want justice. They want their voice to be heard.”
Mr Karantzis’s firm, Carbone Lawyers, signalled the women were preparing to launch legal action in the Victorian Supreme Court against the five players and the club, according to a newspaper report.
“We are currently investigating the circumstances and preparing to commence legal proceedings against the club and potentially the individuals involved,” Manny Carbone, a partner at Carbone Lawyers, told The Age.
Mr Karantzis said the club hadn’t been fully transparent as to who was involved and what occurred.
He claimed more than five men were in the room but refused to comment when asked if coaches were present.
“More than five men and it’s alleged there were even a few leaders in that room,” he said.
Asked if these leaders were coaches he said: “I can’t confirm that”.
Swans coach Dean Cox said he wasn’t in the room and was unaware if anyone else connected with the club was.
“I cannot comment on what happened in the room, it is a police investigation,” Cox said at a media conference in Sydney.
The Swans later released a statement saying the five banned players were the only club representatives in the room.
“The Sydney Swans can confirm that all investigations carried out by the club have consistently indicated that the only representatives of the club in the room central to the police investigation were the five players who have been stood down,” the club said.
“We have every reason to consider that reports to the contrary are simply false.”
Mr Karantzis expected further action from the AFL, which described the club-imposed suspension of the five Swans players as appropriate.
“I’m sure once the AFL is fully apprised of what happened, and that may be through the court process … or through their own investigations, the AFL would make make the appropriate sanctions,” he said.
The AFL’s integrity unit is also investigating.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028
AAP