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Former NRL player Curtis Scott has been fined but given time off behind bars after assaulting his girlfriend twice and intimidating her with death threats.
The former Melbourne Storm and Canberra Raiders player was sentenced in local court at the Downing Center in Sydney on Friday after pleading guilty to wrongdoing against his former partner, long jumper Tay-Leiha Clark, last month.
Magistrate Daniel Covington convicted Scott, placed him on a 12-month community corrections warrant, and fined him $1,400.
“In relation to domestic violence crimes, recognition of harm to the victim comes to a head in connection with crimes like this,” he said.
Scott – pictured outside court on Friday with NRLW star girlfriend Zali Fay – was spared jail time on three charges. Fay provided the court with documents supporting him
One of Scott’s assaults on ex-girlfriend, long jumper Tay-Leiha Clark, was compounded by the fact that it happened in her home, court ruled
“These are multiple incidents that occurred over a period of time and there are three separate incidents for which he is being convicted.”
The magistrate took into account the age of the former NRL center at the time of the incidents, his lack of previous criminal convictions and his current mental state, including PTSD for which he was being treated.
The cancellation of Scott’s NRL contract after the allegations emerged in 2021, and his inability to play professional rugby league now, were also considered.
The court accepted a factor that aggravated the crime was that one of the attacks took place in the victim’s home.
However, arguments by police prosecutors that other factors — including the fact that the victim was vulnerable because she was 18 at the time and subsequently suffered “substantial” emotional harm — warranted a more severe sentence were rejected.
A two-year warrant is now in effect prohibiting the Bonnet Bay man from approaching or contacting Ms Clark or threatening, intimidating or assaulting her.
The 25-year-old was in court on Friday with his current partner, NRLW player Zali Fay. The Parramatta Eels winger presented documents to the court declaring her support for Scott and speaking to his temper.
The former Canberra Raiders star told Clark: ‘F**k you, I’m going to kill you’ and threatened to commit suicide before driving into a tree, court heard
Scott attacked Mrs. Clark and actually caused physical harm to Sylvania on October 27, 2018, placing his hand on Mrs. Clark’s neck and ‘launching’ her across a lounge against a wall, causing her to skin her arm and leave a bump the size of of an egg on her got head.
He also attacked his then partner at Lake Conjola in December of the same year, charging at her and knocking her to the ground. He immediately apologized.
Scott was further convicted of harassing Ms Clark during a telephone conversation in March 2019.
The magistrate accepted that Scott said ‘f*** you, I’m going to kill you’, called her a ‘whore’ and ‘slut’, and also threatened to commit suicide before driving into a tree.
Earlier on Friday, attorney Slade Howell argued that Scott was emotionally immature at the time the domestic violence happened.
Scott’s time with Clark (pictured) was his first serious relationship, attorney Slade Howell told the court
This was the former NRL player’s first proper relationship, with both he and Ms Clark finding it difficult to navigate feelings of jealousy and insecurity during their time together, Mr Howell said.
Scott was “in a heightened emotional state and vulnerable” when he tried to injure himself by driving into a tree, and had cut off all contact with Ms Clark following the incidents, the court heard.
“When he was observed after the crash, he was in the backseat of a car crying and talking about the fact that if he killed himself, nobody would care,” Howell said.
Scott left the court with a frosty face next to Ms. Fay and his legal team, refusing to speak to reporters.