Victoria Police has suspended an officer over an “appalling” privacy breach after he allegedly shared unauthorised images of former AFL coach Dean Laidley in custody inside a police station.

Victoria Police Deputy Commissioner Shane Patton said it was expected the officer would also be hit with criminal charges over the incident.

The photos were taken of former North Melbourne AFL coach Dean Laidley, who was remanded in custody over the weekend on allegations of stalking as well as other charges.

The 53-year-old from Moonee Ponds was arrested on Saturday night after an incident outside a St Kilda home about 9:00pm.

The 1996 North Melbourne premiership player faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Sunday.

The father of three did not apply for bail and remained in custody on Sunday evening.

Photo allegedly shared in WhatsApp group

Deputy Commissioner Patton said a male senior constable had been suspended with pay for allegedly taking the photos, which could constitute a breach of the Victoria Police Act for the unauthorised disclosure of information.

“It is expected he will be charged in due course,” Deputy Commissioner Patton said.

“He will also be subject to internal disciplinary action.”

Deputy Commissioner Patton said the criminal charge allows for penalties of up to two years in jail or close to $40,000 in fines, while the internal investigation could result in the officer being fined, demoted or sacked.

He said he was “appalled” that a Victoria Police officer had taken the photos.

“It’s not an authorised photograph and should not have been taken,” he said.

“It’s unacceptable conduct.

At a press conference this afternoon, Deputy Commissioner Patton said the senior constable had only recently been interviewed and it was still unclear exactly how many officers were involved.

He said he believed the photograph was shared on WhatsApp but it was unclear how the photos came to be on social media.

“It could be around six [people] that have had the photograph disseminated to them,” he said.

“We’ll continue that investigation. It is early days yet.”

Victoria Police apologises for ‘appalling’ breach of privacy

He said it was not clear whether the people who received the photos on WhatsApp were police members or civilians.

“That’s why we’re interrogating his phones,” he said.

“The investigation will explore who has committed any criminal offence in terms of forwarding or accessing information.

“If other [Victoria Police] members have, if you like, disseminated unauthorised information then they will potentially be facing exactly the same charges as this senior constable is.”

Deputy Commissioner Patton also apologised on behalf of the police force.

“The photograph has been taken inside a custody area, I understand, inside a police station,” he said.

“It’s not an authorised photograph and should not have been taken.

“Clearly we have let down that person who those photos were taken of. We’ve breached their privacy and I do apologise on behalf of Victoria Police.”

He said it was “one of the most appalling breaches” by an officer that he could remember.

“I cannot recall a breach of someone’s privacy like this, an individual when they’re in custody,” he said.

“It’s unlawful and criminal conduct and that’s the way we’re treating it.”

A police spokeswoman earlier said the Professional Standards Command had begun a “thorough investigation” into the photos and would be “looking at all aspects of the matter”.

“This is one of the most significant breaches of a person’s privacy and Victoria Police will not tolerate this sort of behaviour,” the spokeswoman said in a statement.

The matter has also been referred to the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC), Deputy Commissioner Patton said.

Lawyer ‘outraged’ over photos of client

Mr Laidley’s lawyer Dee Giannopolous wrote about the images on Sunday night, saying on Twitter she was “outraged” pictures of her client were allegedly “taken by some police officer, on the sly, when in custody in interview”.

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The director of the legal firm, Bill Doogue, described the apparent leak as “disgraceful”.

“Taking photos unlawfully and sharing them. And these were sneaky photos while in [a] police interview in [a] police station by a police officer,” he said.

“Police should investigate and those involved pull [the images] down immediately.”

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Mr Laidley played for the West Coast Eagles from 1987 to 1992 and North Melbourne between 1993 and 1997.

He was the senior coach at North Melbourne from 2003 to 2009 before holding assistant coaching roles at Port Adelaide, St Kilda and Carlton.

He finished his last AFL coaching role at the end of the 2015 season.

He is due to face court again on May 11.

AAP/ABC

Victoria Police has suspended two more police officers over the leak of unauthorised photos of former AFL player and coach Dean Laidley in custody inside a police station.

It follows the suspension of two other officers earlier this week over an “appalling” privacy breach after unauthorised images were shared of the former North Melbourne player and coach in custody inside St Kilda police station.

The photos were taken when Laidley was in police custody last weekend on allegations of stalking, as well as other charges.

The 53-year-old from Moonee Ponds was arrested on Saturday night after an incident outside a St Kilda home about 9:00pm.

In a statement, police said Professional Standards Command had “suspended two further Victoria Police employees in relation to photos circulating on social media of a person who was in custody at a police station in Victoria”.

The two male senior constables are from the southern metropolitan region and are expected to be charged with a breach under section 227 of the Victoria Police Act, which is unauthorised disclosure of information.

There have now been four police officers suspended as part of the investigation.

Police said as the investigation was ongoing, there would be no further comment.

Independent oversight of police probe

Meanwhile, Victoria’s corruption watchdog said it would oversee the Victoria Police investigation into the “serious privacy breach”.

Victoria’s independent police oversight agency, IBAC, said the scope of Victoria Police’s investigation would address issues the watchdog considered necessary to restore public confidence and prevent future breaches.

The police investigation will examine the number of officers involved in taking the initial photographs and the conduct of any other officers who were present and aware of the behaviour.

It will also probe how other officers received the photographs and responded to them, including whether they further distributed the images.

IBAC Commissioner Robert Redlich said the community was right to expect that police always conducted themselves in accordance with the law.

“This must include ensuring that people’s privacy is appropriately protected at all times,” Commissioner Redlich said.

“Importantly, Victoria Police has confirmed they are looking at any underlying cultural issues, and how they can build on their work with the LGBTIQ community and ensure their officers have proper regard to human rights.

“Addressing any such cultural issues and improving police training will be fundamental to ensuring this type of behaviour is simply not tolerated and doesn’t happen again.”

Top cop’s ‘sense of shame’

Earlier on Friday, Victoria’s Chief Police Commissioner, Graham Ashton, said he felt ashamed of the force when he learnt the photo of Mr Laidley had been leaked in an act of “immaturity and gross stupidity”.

“I was firstly very angry when I first heard about it, because [it was] on a day when we should have been paying our respects to a fallen police hero, Josh Prestney,” the Chief Commissioner said referring to the funeral of one of four police officers killed in a truck crash on Melbourne’s Eastern Freeway last month.

Mr Ashton said while Constable Prestney’s parents did not raise the incident with him at the funeral on Monday, “there was a sense of shame that I felt that someone in the force had done that on a day that we should have been honouring a police hero”.

He said it was clear “a lot of people” in the force had received the messages, and detectives were in the process of determining how widely it was shared.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says players who refuse to get a flu shot should be banned from competing in the NRL.

Mr Morrison was adamant players should abide by a “no jab, no play” policy after Gold Coast player Bryce Cartwright polarised the rugby league community with his anti-vaccination stance.

Cartwright rejected a request to be vaccinated as part of strict measures to restart the NRL competition on May 28 and must now explain his actions to NRL chief medical officer Paul Bloomfield.

“When I was social services minister I started the ‘no jab, no play’ rule into the childcare facilities,” Mr Morrison told 2GB radio.

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“And I think the same rule applies there — no jab, no play.”

An NRL spokesperson said players who refused to receive the shot would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis in consultation with club and NRL medical staff.

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While reports claimed Cartwright faced a ban, the NRL spokesperson refused to speculate on possible penalties if a player could not justify refusing to have the shot.

The NRL said it was not aware of any other players rejecting the flu shot.

A Rugby League Players’ Association (RLPA) spokesman said a player who refused to be vaccinated had the option to sign a waiver in order to continue to train and be available for selection while their case was dealt with by the NRL.

The spokesman said the RLPA strongly recommended flu shots but believed players who refused should be dealt with case-by-case and that the vaccination was not mandatory.

The rugby league community appeared to be split down the middle by Cartwright’s stance as the majority of NRL teams returned to training on Wednesday.

Titans captain Kevin Proctor said Cartwright should be allowed to play once the NRL season resumes.

He said he did not believe teams would feel uncomfortable facing an opposition player who had refused to have a flu shot.

“I’m not going to go on the field and go, ‘I’m not going to run at him, he hasn’t got a vaccine’,” Proctor said.

“You don’t even think about that stuff. I reckon it is just stupid.”

NRL great Paul Gallen backed Cartwright.

“I’m not against the flu shot, but I just think if they don’t want to have it, they don’t have to have it,” he told 2GB’s Wide World of Sports Radio.

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“If they don’t want to put it into their body, they don’t have to have it.”

But Penrith legend Mark Geyer was adamant Cartwright should get the jab if he wanted to play.

“I respect he and his partner’s decision for his family, if they don’t want to get the kids vaccinated that’s fine,” he told Triple M’s Rush Hour.

“As for Bryce, I’m sorry but no flu shot, no play.”

Cartwright’s partner Shanelle justified their position on social media.

“People have the freedom to say what they like, just like we have the freedom to choose which medical procedures we undergo,” she posted on Instagram.

“But ultimately the proof is in the pudding. Our kids are a picture of health.

“They’ve never had an ear infection, never had a chest infection or bronchitis, they have no neurodevelopmental disorders or autoimmune disorders and are rarely ever sick.

“They’ve never had a round of antibiotics or any other pharmaceutical drug for that matter … As parents we do our best with what we know, for some, health comes in a needle and it works for them.

“What we’re doing is going seemingly well seeing the state of their health. So if it’s not clear, we’re not anti anything.

“We stand for medical freedom and the right to choose. Anyway, that’s my piece.”

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South Sydney half-back Adam Reynolds said he followed the recommendation of the NRL and the RLPA about having a flu shot.

“I had my flu shot three or four weeks ago,” he said.

“I stayed at home during that time and rested up … that is the doctor’s advice.”

Reynolds throws support behind Mitchell

Reynolds has backed his teammate Latrell Mitchell, who he claimed had been on the receiving end of some “unfair” media scrutiny.

Mitchell — along with Melbourne’s Josh Addo-Carr, Newcastle’s Tyronne Roberts-Davis and Penrith’s Nathan Cleary — was fined by the NRL last week for flouting social-distancing laws amid the coronavirus pandemic.

NSW Police also charged Mitchell and Addo-Carr with firearms offences.

Mitchell and Reynolds were also in the news earlier this week when they were tested for COVID-19. Both returned negative results.

Reynolds said Mitchell did not deserve some of the media coverage he had recently attracted and his privacy needed to be respected.

“If it was another player in his situation, they wouldn’t be on the front page of the paper, it’s just because his name is Latrell Mitchell,” he said.

“I don’t think it’s fair that journos or whatnot turn up to his door and harass him at his family home.

The Storm’s Felise Kaufusi said Addo-Carr had apologised to his teammates following the punishment he received from the NRL and NSW Police.

“I think he’s taken it a lot to his heart and [it’s] very, very personal and he just wants to show us that it was a mistake and he just wants to do the best that he can,” Kaufusi said.

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NRL players Latrell Mitchell and Josh Addo-Carr have been hit with firearms charges after a weekend getaway with about 10 men.

Key points:

• The NRL players have been accused of “putting the game and community at risk”
• Mitchell and Addo-Carr have been charged with firearm offences
• Pictures emerged of Cleary with a group of people at his home

Photos and videos posted to Melbourne star Addo-Carr’s Instagram account showed a group huddled around a camp fire at Mitchell’s property on the NSW Mid-North Coast.

There were also photographs showing a group of men, including the players, shooting guns and riding dirt bikes at South West Rocks.

Newcastle’s Tyronne Roberts-Davis was not in the photos around the camp but was sprung in another image posted of the group dirt biking.

South Sydney star Mitchell attended Taree Police Station today after being charged with giving a firearm to a person not authorised by licence/permit.

His firearms licence was suspended, and a number of guns were seized by police.

Addo-Carr has been charged with the unauthorised use of a firearm.

Both men will appear at Taree Local Court on Tuesday, August 4.

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It comes after NSW Police confirmed yesterday they had fined Mitchell, Addo-Carr and Roberts-Davis $1,000 for the getaway.

The NRL today issued four players with breach notices for “bringing the game into disrepute” by flouting social distancing laws amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Mitchell and Addo-Carr have each been handed $50,000 fines, with 60 per cent of that suspended until the end of the season.

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Roberts-Davis has been issued with a $10,000 fine, with 60 per cent of that suspended.

In an unrelated matter, Penrith player Nathan Cleary was also fined $10,000 after photographs surfaced of Cleary with a group of people on Anzac Day.

Each player has been handed a one-game ban, however that is also suspended.

The players now have five days to respond to the breach notices.

Australian Rugby League Commission Chairman Peter V’landys said the players were “putting the game and the community at risk by their actions”.

“It’s certainly hard to accept such behaviour when the game is doing everything it can to persuade the community that its players are responsible and behave appropriately,” he said.

NSW Police has said it is looking into photographs which appear to show Cleary violating social-distancing rules on the weekend.

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Social media photos have emerged of him in close contact with a group of several women, reportedly taken at his home on Saturday.

“Police are aware of the images and are investigating,” a NSW Police spokeswoman said.

In an Instagram video posted on Monday afternoon, Addo-Carr said that he was “really sorry from the bottom of my heart” and said the getaway was the result of family members “going through a really tough time”.

In a separate video, Mitchell also apologised and said the incident had been “a little bit of a slip-up”.

“We’re not here to break any rules or hurt anyone, we’re not being selfish [but] I couldn’t turn down the brothers in their time of need,” Mitchell said.

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