AFL bad boy Jake King claims police harassment as he’s questioned at his tattoo parlour during raids connected to the shooting death of a fruiterer on a Melbourne highway

• Former AFL player Jake King is ‘sick of’ getting caught up in bikie gang drama
• His tattoo parlour was raided in coordinated raids connected to shooting death
• His lawyer said King is ‘sick of it’ and is ‘being borderline harassed’ by police 

By Brittany Chain and Wayne Flower For Daily Mail Australlia

Published: 17:50 EST, 22 January 2020 | Updated: 18:59 EST, 22 January 2020

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Updated

January 30, 2018 14:39:37

Former AFL footballer Jake King is concerned he will lose his job when his employer learns he has been charged with possessing steroids, despite the more serious extortion offences he faces already having been made public, a court has heard.

The 33-year-old faced the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court charged with allegedly threatening to shoot a man and break his legs and those of his family if he did not pay him $150,000 within a month.

It emerged the former Richmond footballer has also been charged with possessing testosterone.

Mr King’s lawyer Geoffrey Steward asked the court not to release the drug possession charges to the media because of Mr King’s concerns it would “impact adversely” on his employment.

But Magistrate Franz Holzer said it would be illegal for Mr King’s employer to sack him over the charges which, at this stage, were “no more than allegations”.

It is unclear where Mr King is currently employed.

He was charged in July after being arrested at the South Melbourne tattoo parlour he co-owns with former outlaw motorcycle gang member Toby Mitchell.

Mr King is facing numerous offences, including extortion, making threats to kill and inflicting serious injury.

The charges relate to an alleged dispute between Mr King’s ex-teammate at Richmond, Ty Vickery, and Vickery’s former business partner at a restaurant in Melbourne’s east.

Mr Steward told today’s hearing that Mr King may plead guilty to some of the charges but would not admit to the steroid charges and was hoping to have them withdrawn.

If the case does result in a plea hearing, Mr Steward said he proposed to tender 30 character references from various people vouching for Mr King’s standing, reputation and character.

Mr King will return to court in March.

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First posted

January 30, 2018 13:36:39

On the second day of 2018, West Brom’s Jake Livermore rushed into the stands to confront a West Ham fan during an English Premier League match. On Wednesday, the English FA decided not to punish the midfielder. This stunning lack of a Jake Livermore punishment is wholly unacceptable.

First, it must be stated there were extenuating circumstances that led to Livermore rushing into the stands. The fan reportedly yelled something to the midfielder, who had just been substituted off the pitch, about his baby son who died in 2014. This action, too, is wholly unacceptable, and West Ham is taking all the right actions to confirm the story and ban the fan for life.

But Livermore’s actions were also wholly unacceptable. Regardless of what someone says, a physical altercation is never an acceptable response. 

If someone says your momma is fat, you don’t punch him in the gut. If someone says your girl is ugly, you don’t pull out a gun. If a politician urges you to act out against protesters, you don’t attack another human. If someone jokes about your dead son, you don’t rush toward him in anger. These are the responses of oafish fools, not responsible humans. Violence is never the answer, y’all. 

The English FA completely missed the mark on the Jake Livermore punishment. This wasn’t about Livermore responding to gross remarks; it was about a player charging into the stands, endangering the wellbeing of himself and others in the process. Livermore should not have escaped punishment altogether; he was in the wrong just as much as the fan. 

There was a similar event in the NBA in the U.S. in 1995. Houston Rockets guard Vernon Maxwell pinpointed a Portland Trailblazers fan who was heckling him over his wife’s miscarriage. Mad Max charged 12 rows deep into the stands to slug the man. Yes, the fan should not have yelled such horrible things, but Maxwell — admittedly one of my favorite players growing up — was completely in the wrong for turning to violence. The NBA rightly suspended him for 10 games and handed down a $20,000 fine. 

There is no excuse for hitting someone, even when it comes to some of the foulest comments imaginable. Likewise, there is no excuse for Livermore to charge into the stands to respond to a fan. Who knows what could have happened to the midfielder, who made six appearances with the Three Lions in 2017. He could have hurt himself or others. 

There will likely be plenty of people who disagree with me on this point, that Livermore was totally within his right to charge at a fan for the deplorable words thrown his way. You’re completely within your rights to disagree, just don’t try to attack me physically. 

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