Woman who alleges Dustin Martin threatened her says AFL ‘leaned’ on her to change evidenceJon Kaila and Lauren Wood
Herald Sun
December 12, 2015THE woman who claims Dustin Martin threatened to stab her with a chopstick has launched a withering attack on the AFL over its handling of the case.
The 30-year-old claims that the league “leaned’’ on her to water down evidence that Martin threatened “I’ll f***ing stab you’’ in Chapel St’s Mr Miyagi restaurant on Saturday night.
One AFL officer then gloated to her “we’ve washed our hands of this’’ once the investigation was handed over to the police yesterday, the shaken victim — a Channel Seven staffer — has confided to friends.
“It has been incredibly stressful,’’ she has told a friend.
“The investigation has been seriously flawed. The AFL needs to overhaul their process so the focus is on a victim’s welfare and not the branding of the league.’’
One friend said the woman was particularly devastated that the league had “actively sought to discredit her story’’ after police took charge last night, telling journalists that other diners had downplayed the incident.
On her first day of interviews with the AFL, friends said the woman had been told by integrity investigators the club viewed her as a credible witness and did not dispute her claims.
But by the third day they were questioning her version of events.
“I felt heavily leaned on to water down how threatened and intimidated I felt on the night,’’ she told a friend.
In her final interview with the AFL — a four-hour session — she said officers repeatedly questioned whether she wanted to proceed with her claim that Martin threatened to stab her with a chopstick, warning then they would have to refer it to police and it could end his career.
The Herald Sun can reveal two other people who have backed up her story are being contacted by police, who are working though the entire reservation list for the night.
Detectives from Stonnington Crime Investigation Unit today visited the restaurant, where CCTV is understood to have captured Martin’s arrival, but not the incident.
It comes despite a senior staffer at the restaurant, which allowed Martin to jump the queue and down several shots despite reports he was in “space land’’, had told the Herald Sun earlier this week that none of its CCTV cameras were operating.
CCTV is understood to have caught Martin arriving at the restaurant. Picture Norm Oorloff
Richmond has also come under fire, with one source close to the victim claiming that on Monday morning, when she first complained, an officer said “there must be a better way to deal with it than through the media’’.
The victim has also revealed in her first interview with league and Richmond integrity officers, she was given the impression the offence was not viewed as a criminal one.
But when they presented their version of her statement back to her, it was littered with “falsifications’’ playing down the extent of her terror and Martin’s menace.
One AFL officer has since been accused by those close to the victim of “monstering’’ her.
Richmond president Peggy O’Neal today said the club was “concerned” for Martin who will travel to Queensland for a pre-season training camp with his Tigers teammates on Sunday.
“We’re concerned about Dustin and, of course, we’re disappointed with any kind of behaviour like that, but again, we don’t know all the facts and that’s what this investigation will show,” O’Neal said.
Anyone with information on the incident is encouraged to call the Crime Stoppers line 1800 333000 .
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/woman-who-alleges-dustin-martin-threatened-her-says-afl-leaned-on-her-to-change-evidence/news-story/ea3a418d536b7b4282a482b7ecb0a0fe
