Fallen footy star Ben Cousins is facing 15 charges including aggravated stalking and breaching a restraining order after he was arrested in Perth.
The former West Coast Eagles captain was taken into custody on Wednesday after allegedly being found with methamphetamine in the suburb of East Victoria Park.
Police had been searching for a vehicle that was seen driving erratically earlier in the day before finding it in Kensington around noon.
The 41-year-old was allegedly found asleep next to the car with 2.5 grams of ice.
WA Police refused to comment on the type of car Cousins was driving after it was located.
He has also been charged with aggravated stalking and 13 charges relating to the breaching of a restraining order between April 2 and April 15.
Those charges do not relate to Wednesday’s incident and the victim is known to Cousins, police said.
Ben Cousins (pictured in 2016) is facing 15 charges including aggravated stalking and breaching a restraining order after being arrested again in Perth
A prison van believed to be transporting former West Coast Eagles AFL player Ben Cousins leaves the Armadale Magistrates Court in Perth on Thursday
The fallen footy star (pictured with his former partner) previously opened up about his battle with drug addiction. He also served almost one year behind bars for stalking his ex-partner Maylea Tinecheff
Cousins was placed in a holding cell at the Perth watch house and will face Armadale Magistrates Court on Thursday.
A white prison van believed to be transporting the former AFL player was photographed leaving the court in Perth on Thursday afternoon.
The former premiership player and Brownlow medallist has been in and out of prison in recent years as he struggled with his meth addiction, and served almost one year behind bars for stalking his ex-partner Maylea Tinecheff.
He had been scheduled to face a trial last September over more alleged family violence offences, but after charges of stalking and threatening to harm Ms Tinecheff were dropped, he pleaded guilty to 12 lesser offences.
He was sentenced to eight months in prison but it was backdated and with time already served, he was able to walk free in August.
His lawyer Michael Tudori told AAP at the time his client was doing well and continuing to self-fund his rehabilitation with the Whitehaven Clinic, saying it was ‘a long road to recovery’.
The arrest comes just three weeks after Cousins appeared in a tell-all interview with Channel Seven where he opened up about his drug addiction.
Cousins was placed in a holding cell at the Perth watch house and will face Armadale Magistrates Court on Thursday. Pictured: Van believed to be transporting Cousins is seen leaving court
Ben Cousins was seen giving the thumps up with West Coast Eagles player Nic Naitanui earlier this month
Ben Cousins is due to appear in court on Thursday after allegedly being found with 2.5g of methamphetamine
Sporting long hair in a ponytail and a scruffy beard, Cousins admitted he’d ‘stuffed things up royally’ and that it was time to put things right.
‘I hope people can see I’m having a crack at turning it around,’ he said.
But Cousins gave an unconvincing answer when asked if he was still using drugs.
‘I’m just thinking how… I’m just not sure about how to answer that,’ he said.
‘My issues have been more greater and complex than my drug use.
‘In a perfect world, I would’ve have liked come out the other side a long time ago. That hasn’t been the case.’
Cousins was tight-lipped when asked when was the last time he took drugs.
‘It’s just one of those things, I’d rather not go there,’ he said.
‘I don’t think it helps.’
‘Last week, last month?,’ Basil Zempilas pressed.
Cousins replied: ‘Well…you know, not today is enough for me and it should be enough for other people.
Ben Cousins and Chris Judd of the West Coast Eagles celebrate premiership success after the epic 2006 AFL grand final win against the Sydney Swans at the MCG
During the interview, Ben Cousins recalled the story behind this nude photo of him after a spray tan that went viral on social media. ‘I was trying to get a root,’ Cousins said
Cousins had this message to today’s youth about taking drugs.
‘I would encourage them to think long and hard before they decide to go down that path,’ Cousins said.
‘Just be aware of the ramifications and take it seriously.’
Confronting footage from the interview also showed a furious Cousins in the backseat of a car, ranting about the custody of his kids.
‘I don’t think a mother plays any more of an important role than the bloke does,’ Cousins says in the rant filmed in February.
‘It needs to be stopped. Every time I see the coppers I say to them ”you guys have let me down”.
‘The community has let me down. My family, her family, have let me down. This has gone on for too long.
‘If I get to a point where and I’m going to pick a cause single-mindedly… or with that cause towards you – I want there to be carnage.
‘Blood will spill. So, it’s up to you guys so if you want to change this.’
Cousins described the mother of his children, Maylea Tinecheff, as the most defiant person he’d ever known – and said he wanted underworld figure Mick Gatto to mediate access to his two children.
The Ben Cousins: Coming Clean documentary showed the fallen AFL star (pictured) unleashing in an angry tirade about the custody battle with his ex-partner over their children
He said he was willing to give his Brownlow Medal to Gatto in return.
‘I’ve never met anyone as defiant. You know? Mick Gatto couldn’t tell her what to do,’ Cousins said.
‘Mick … I’m just telling you – and I honestly was going to get him to come over, I was going to give him my Brownlow – to mediate.
‘That’s how big a thing it was, you know?’
In a rare light-hearted moment during the documentary, Cousins was reminded about a nude photo of him after a spray tan that surfaced on social media last year.
‘Mate, there’s a fantastic photo of Ben at a spray tan place,’ a man can heard saying off-camera.
Ben Cousins (pictured as a 21-year-old in 2000) had a stellar career with the West Coast Eagles before he was sacked by the club and banned by the AFL following the 2007 season
‘Oh please,’ Cousins laughed.
‘You posted it,’ Zempilas told him.
Cousins replied: ‘I didn’t actually, that was the problem. I can’t believe it happened the way it did.
‘I wasn’t doing someone a favour. I was trying to get a root, that’s what I was trying to do basically. That wasn’t supposed to go anywhere.’
The pair laughed when Zempilas said it wasn’t the worst thing Cousins had ever done.
The infamous photo never got the desired result.
‘No ships, only hardships,’ Cousins said.
He was grilled about his tumultuous relationship with the mother of his children and former partner, Maylea Tinecheff.
In January 2018, Cousins was released from prison after serving 10 months of the one-year sentence for breaching a restraining order taken out by Ms Tinecheff.
He was back in jail months later following charges making threats and breaking a violence restraining order.
He spent eight months in jail until his release on bail last April.
Two charges of stalking and threatening to harm Ms Tinecheff were later dropped.
Cousins later pleaded guilty to the remaining 12 offences of breaching a violence restraining order and was sentenced to eight months in prison, which he had already served.
‘As you know, I wasn’t convicted of some of those things’, Cousins told Zempilas.
‘But I agree with you yeah, some of it is inexcusable.’
When asked if he was embarrassed about where he ended up, Cousins replied: ‘I’m not proud.’
THE TROUBLED LIFE AND TIMES OF BEN COUSINS:
1996 – Makes AFL debut with West Coast and is named the league’s Rising Star
2001 – Named club captain of West Coast at age 23
2002 – Breaks his arm falling down a flight of stairs at a nightclub months after punching his teammate Daniel Kerr
2005 – (May) Is quizzed by police about association with underworld identities
– (September) Wins Brownlow medal as the AFL’s best and fairest player
Cousins after the 2006 AFL Grand Final
2006 – (February) Swims across a Perth river to escape a booze bus
– (September) Wins AFL premiership with the Eagles
– (December) Is arrested after passing out in front of Melbourne’s Crown Casino and spends four hours in jail
2007 – (March) Suspended by West Coast after missing training session
– (April) Goes to a drug rehabilitation facility in the US
– (October) Revealed to have visited fellow Eagles legend Chris Mainwaring twice on the night he died of a drug overdose
– (October) Arrested and charged with drug offences that are later dropped
– (November) Eventually sacked by West Coast and banned from the AFL for one year
2008 – AFL re-registers Cousins and he is signed by Richmond
2010 – Retires from the AFL but releases autobiography and documentary
Cousins has been charged with drug possession and refusing a drug test in 2007, but the charges were later dropped
2015 – Arrested three times before leading police on a slow-speed car chase
2016 – (June) Spotted behaving erratically and directing traffic on a highway
– (October) In and out of court over drug offences and breaches a restraining order taken out by his ex-partner
2017 – Jailed for one year for breaching restraining order by calling his ex-lover thousands of times
2018 – (January) Released from jail on parole just 10 months into his sentence
He takes up a community support role with the West Coast Eagles – a requirement of his parole conditions
– (May): Reports emerge he hasn’t been seen at the club for a month
The club confirms the he told officials in April he no longer wanted the job
– (August) Arrested and charged with drug possession and breaching a restraining order
2019 – (February) He was fined $1,750 for possessing meth and hiding it up his anus while in jail
(March) Cousins pleaded not guilty to 14 offences in court, including breaching a family violence restraining order and a count each of aggravated stalking and threatening to injure, endanger or harm
(April) Cousins is arrested in Perth with a Cousins is released from jail on bail after eight months inside.
2020 – (March) Tell-all documentary Coming Clean goes to air – Cousins opens up about his meth addiction and time behind bars.
(April) Cousins is arrested in Perth after allegedly being caught with 2.5grams of methamphetamine while asleep beside his car.