AFL Northern Territory (AFLNT) advises following an incident between patrons at the TIO CAFL Senior Men’s Round 4 game between Rovers Football Club and West Football Club, held on Saturday 18 May at Albrecht Oval that an independent investigation led to the following penalties being laid;
Christine Dick was found in breach of a Category 3 Offence under the AFLNT Code of Conduct and Conditions of Entry; Push, bite or strike (including attempt to strike) another person. A first offence for a violation is a suspension of 15 weeks from all AFLNT events of which Christine Dick was issued a notice for.
Kira Dick was found in breach of a Category 3 Offence under the AFLNT Code of Conduct and Conditions of Entry; Push, bite or strike (including attempt to strike) another person. A first offence for a violation is a suspension of 15 weeks from all AFLNT events of which Kira Dick was issued a notice for.
A subsequent breach notice issued to Shenae Khan, who the investigator assessed also had a case to answer Category 3 Offence under the AFLNT Code of Conduct and Conditions of Entry; Push, bite or strike (including attempt to strike) another person, was challenged at an independent Tribunal on Wednesday 26 June.
The Tribunal declared that Khan had no case to answer for; citing State and Territory Tribunal Guidelines sections 2.14 d (ii) and (iii) that refer to provocation and self-defence, and concluding that Khan was under considerable provocation and there was a reasonable assumption of self-defence.
In issuing Khan with a breach of the Code of Conduct letter, AFLNT acted on the recommendations of the independent Investigator who acted thoroughly and followed the due process. However, Khan did not respond to the investigator’s attempt to contact her and was therefore not spoken to during the investigation, and considerable evidence was produced for the Tribunal hearing that was not made available to AFLNT or the Investigator.
In dismissing the Code of Conduct breach against Khan, the Tribunal chairperson said;
“The Tribunal found that Khan had no case to answer for. Khan was provoked and attacked by other spectators at a local AFL game. Khan was sitting in her car which was parked inside Albrecht Oval watching the football. She was attacked, pulled out of her car and has no other reasonable alternative than to defend herself.
“The Tribunal found this response to be reasonable in the circumstances. Violence and overt violence is not tolerated, particularly where there are children, adults and families all there to watch the football.”
Khan is free to attend AFLNT events and football games.
As Christine Dick and Kira Dick did not challenge the breach notices issued to them and the opportunity to do so (five business days) has now lapsed, their 15-week suspension is effective as of last Friday, 21 June 2019.
