Tiger Jordan McMahon accused of being a 'cheapskate'
Sue Hewitt | November 23, 2008 12:00am
MODEL Rebecca McClure has told a court of the alleged penny-pinching ways of her former partner, AFL player Jordan McMahon.
She claims he dumped her and their one-year-old child interstate, with only a few hundred dollars, and never returned.
McClure is suing McMahon in the County Court, seeking a lump sum payout and a property settlement.
McMahon's manager, Alex McDonald, said the Richmond running defender had not yet received the court statement of claim and could not comment.
In court documents, McClure claimed McMahon earned $275,000 a year in 2008, while she struggled on a receptionist's salary of $35,000.
She claimed she had no idea there was any trouble with their relationship when McMahon left her and daughter, Lila, now almost three, in Adelaide two years ago, never to return.
The mother and child were left shortly after Christmas with their luggage, a few hundred dollars and the use of a car, she said.
She claimed they lived as "husband and wife" for at least two years until December, 2006.
Her court documents outlined the life of a football wife, where she said she attended only the formal football functions and otherwise stayed at home to care for their child.
Though McClure said McMahon was earning $180,000 a year between 2004 and 2006 while playing for the Western Bulldogs, she claimed she worked part-time for less than $20 an hour through her pregnancy to prepare the home for her child.
She alleged she had to pay all of her private health costs for the birth, and her family paid out-of-pocket expenses.
After the birth, McMahon took one day off football, while McClure's mother moved to Melbourne from Adelaide to help care for the newborn, according to the writ.
McClure met the then Western Bulldogs player in 2004 in Adelaide, where she lived with her mother.
She claimed that early in the romance, while she was working three part-time jobs, she had to pay to travel from Adelaide to Melbourne to be with McMahon.
The couple holidayed together in Malaysia for a fortnight, but Miss McClure said she had to pay her way.
The footballer asked her to move to Melbourne and promised to meet all her housing and living expenses until she got a job or was studying, the court document said.
But when she moved into McMahon's Melbourne apartment in December, 2004, he sacked the cleaning lady and expected her to do the household chores.
McClure claimed in court documents that, during their time together, her former partner spent $100 a week on phone gambling and lost $8000 on a 2005 Las Vegas football trip.
Throughout the relationship, McMahon kept his financial affairs secret and maintained separate bank accounts, according to the court document.
In 2006, McClure and her daughter regularly went to Adelaide to visit her mother, who was dying of cancer.
After her mother's death that year, McMahon drove McClure and their daughter to her deceased mother's home, according to her writ.
"After depositing (McClure) at the home of (her) deceased mother, (McMahon) took his possessions and left," the court document said.
Since the split, McMahon has paid McClure 4.5 months of six months' rent, as well as $600 a month, the statement said.
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,24691109-19742,00.html
