Slater charged with stalking, to appear in court

SYDNEY: Former Australian cricketer-turned-commentator Michael Slater will have to appear in court after he was "charged with stalking/intimidating" his partner of three years in an alleged incident last week.

Reports said the 51-year-old, who played 74 Tests and scored 5,000-plus runs, was arrested "at his home in Manly, north of Sydney on Wednesday morning and taken to Manly police station".

"Officers attached to the Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command commenced an investigation yesterday (on Tuesday) after receiving reports of a domestic violence incident alleged to have occurred on Tuesday 12 October 2021," stuff.co.nz said, quoting a New South Wales Police statement on Wednesday.

"He was subsequently arrested and taken to Manly police station, where he was charged with use (of a) carriage service to menace/harass/offend and stalk/intimidate intend fear physical harm."

Later Slater was seen leaving the police station accompanied by his solicitor James McLoughlin, the report said.

"Michael's got nothing to say, he's exercising his right to silence," McLoughlin said. The former cricketer will appear in Sydney's Waverley Local Court on November 11. Slater was recently dropped from the Channel 7 commentary panel ahead of the 2021/22 season. The reason behind the non-renewal of Slater's contract was "budgetary constraints".

There were reports that Slater's infamous tweets against Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison in May this year made a partial contribution to his exit from Channel 7. In a series of fierce tweets, Slater controversially accused Morrison of having 'blood on his hands' for preventing 40 Australian citizens participating in first half of IPL 2021 to return from India, where the second wave of COVID-19 infections put a halt to the tournament.

"If our Government cared for the safety of Aussies they would allow us to get home. It's a disgrace! Blood on your hands PM. How dare you treat us like this. How about you sort out the quarantine system. I had government permission to work on the IPL but I now have government neglect," read Slater's tweet that time.

His second tweet read as, "Amazing to smoke out the PM on a matter that is a human crisis. The panic, the fear of every Australian in India is real!! How about you take your private jet and come and witness dead bodies on the street!"

It was followed by, "And did just read greed over common sense! Your government granted me permission to work so I can pay for 3 beautiful children through school and pay a mortgage. So where does common sense lie. Not on my end!"

Morrison had responded then by saying it was 'absurd' for Slater to accuse him of having 'blood on his hands'. To this, Slater replied by saying, "I challenge you to a debate anytime PM." (IANS)