Cousins Sentenced for 12 Months Behind Bars

[domo_the_eagle]

http://www.theage.com.au/wa-news/ben-cousins-sentenced-to-one-year-in-jail-over-stalking-drug-possession-20170328-gv84sb.html

Would he actually get clean in jail? its not like its a drug free environment either. In the end it was his blatancy to repeatedly land himself in trouble that got him this sentence.

[Total Package]

I can't believe it's taken this long to be honest. VRO's don't seem to be worth the paper they are written on.

I hope it is because he was a well known footballer that he got all these chances... otherwise our judicial system is an absolute joke.

Also I think he has zero chance of getting clean in prison.

[Mr Q]

Well it was always going to happen eventually.

It's sad to see just how far people can fall, but realistically the only person Cousins has to blame is himself.

[farmer joe]

Sad. Like most methheads though it was always going to be goal, the nuthouse or the grave.

[Total Package]

Sad. Like most methheads though it was always going to be goal, the nuthouse or the grave.

Well he has successfully accomplished 2 of those 3. Given that the average life expectancy of a heavy meth user is between 5-7 years... Ben has well and truly beaten the odds and is pushing the envelope. Put it this way... odds are pretty much certain he won't be around to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the 2006 premiership.

[Bigbird]

Hopefully this is a turning point for him....if nothing else for the sake of his kids and family.

[farmer joe]

Hopefully this is a turning point for him....if nothing else for the sake of his kids and family.

There's an interesting discussion to be had there....if you have kids to a known methhead, if you place a VRO on known methhead and still see him whilst the VRO is in place (they had front row seats together at one of thy Springsteen shows in Jan) then how much are you part of the problem?
Hopefully Ben can get it together and when he comes out associate with people who will help keep him stable. Those people may well not be his 'family'.

[jourgo]

First and only factor in whether he come out the other side clean:

Does he want to?

[Fat Side]

First and only factor in whether he come out the other side clean:

Does he want to?

It is difficult to see any signs of a desire to quit. First he states he can stop when he wants. He says he wants to go to the drug court, then withdraws his application. The drug court places onerous responsibilities on participants to attend to counselling, regular urine testing etc. I guess he didn't believe he could comply meaning he would be removed from the regime and sentenced anyway.

I think the Magistrate may have also guessed that when he refused to give Cousins a suspended sentence. He probably thought that Cousins would re-offend and would eventually be ordered to serve the prison term.

Both the drug court and a suspended sentence would have been setting him up to fail. It would have delayed the inevitable.

[Streaker]

It'll be just as easy, if not easier, for him to get drugs on the inside. Those that think differently have no idea how rife the prison system is with drugs.

[Total Package]

First and only factor in whether he come out the other side clean:

Does he want to?

It is difficult to see any signs of a desire to quit. First he states he can stop when he wants. He says he wants to go to the drug court, then withdraws his application. The drug court places onerous responsibilities on participants to attend to counselling, regular urine testing etc. I guess he didn't believe he could comply meaning he would be removed from the regime and sentenced anyway.

I think the Magistrate may have also guessed that when he refused to give Cousins a suspended sentence. He probably thought that Cousins would re-offend and would eventually be ordered to serve the prison term.

Both the drug court and a suspended sentence would have been setting him up to fail. It would have delayed the inevitable.

Didn't I also read the other day that the police were listening in to his prison phone calls with his dad and that Cousins was saying he has no intention of quitting drugs when he gets out.

[Ric]

Didn't I also read the other day that the police were listening in to his prison phone calls with his dad and that Cousins was saying he has no intention of quitting drugs when he gets out.

If true, then what a disgraceful attitude. Isn't it enough the burden he's placed on his family and the legacy he leaves his kids. Surely the grave is his next stop.

[Total Package]

Didn't I also read the other day that the police were listening in to his prison phone calls with his dad and that Cousins was saying he has no intention of quitting drugs when he gets out.

If true, then what a disgraceful attitude. Isn't it enough the burden he's placed on his family and the legacy he leaves his kids. Surely the grave is his next stop.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/b ... e3790df099

TROUBLED former AFL premiership player Ben Cousins is willing to go to rehab after spending a month in prison, but his phone calls indicate he has no intention of quitting drugs, a Perth court has heard.

The court heard Cousins’ phone calls were tapped in prison and he told his father he did not want to quit.

The court heard Cousins’ phone calls were tapped in prison and in one conversation, he said he did not mind “dressing this up as a rehab”. Cousins told his father he could quit whenever he wanted.

“I have a bit of gear and it makes me feel normal,” he said.

“I’m not going to stop. I don’t want to stop.”

He won’t go to rehab,” a friend told the Sunday Herald Sun.

“He’s not capable of going to rehab at this stage. If you’re so damaged mentally from the drug use, it won’t work.”

Cousins, who has previously said he has used ice, cocaine and pills, was still in the grip of addiction, a friend said.

“He’ll smash through a glass door to get stuff, it’s just shocking,” the source said.

“Ben’s just at the top of the pyramid, underneath there’s a lot of people suffering. The mother of his kids deserve the attention, they will be getting the attention, not him.”

For me he is a lost cause. Prison isn't going to help him... it is only give him greater access to the drugs he craves. Drugs are currency within the prison system.

I honestly can't see a way out for him.

[farmer joe]

This article lays it on the line. The current system sucks and is regular abused by women, solicitors and police..
http://www.watoday.com.au/comment/ben-c ... ve3si.html

[Fat Side]

This article lays it on the line. The current system sucks and is regular abused by women, solicitors and police..
http://www.watoday.com.au/comment/ben-c ... ve3si.html

This is relatively common unfortunately. The law is designed to deal with the worst types of scenarios (where the offender is obsessive, violent and threatening). In many instances a VRO is in place and the applicant contacts the recipient and/or spends time with them. When the recipient overstays (usually his) welcome or changes behaviour, the police are called and the recipient arrested. There is no police bail for a person breaching a VRO. The offender can only be bailed by a Magistrate (sometimes meaning overnight or weekend custody).

I am aware first hand of a situation where the applicant continually contacted the recipient after taking out a VRO. The applicant was charged by police for breaching the order (as a party to the offence). A complaint was made to the Minister who intervened and the charge was withdrawn, mush to the frustration of police.

I agree with Simon Creek that the concept of VROs is good, but there needs to be a better way. We hear that the worst violent offenders ignore them and often inflict serious injuries or kill their former partners and, on the other hand we hear stories such as the one I mentioned and Creek's piece.

There are two many instances where the VRO system does not work. Fresh thinking is required.