Wayne Carey - Scandals, Domestic Violence, Arrests and Drug Abuse

Scandals, Domestic Violence, Arrests and Drug Abuse

In 1996 Carey pleaded guilty to indecent assault after grabbing a passing woman's breast on a Melbourne city street after 12 hours of drinking with team mates. He allegedly told her "Why don't you get a bigger pair of tits". Carey later settled out of court when the woman filed a civil suit against him.

In 2000 Carey provided character evidence for Jason Moran, an infamous gangster who was subsequently murdered in Melbourne's gang war.

In 2004, while holidaying with his then wife, Carey was subject to arrest for a misdemeanour battery report while holidaying in Las Vegas. He was placed in custody for one night then released. The local District Attorney elected not to pursue the case

Carey again became the subject of public comment in February 2006 when he announced he was leaving his pregnant wife Sally for model Kate Neilson. His daughter Ella was born six weeks later. In December 2006 Kate Neilson allegedly reported Carey to Australian police for domestic violence, allegeding he had punched her in the face. Neilson and Carey subsequently denied this report. Subsequently US security guard Kyle Banks told the Nine Network's A Current Affair he saw Carey attacking Neilson while working at the exclusive W Hotel in New York City in October 2006. Banks said he saw Carey break a bottle of French champagne over his own head.

On 27 January 2008 Carey was arrested after reports of a disturbance at his Port Melbourne apartment. Police had to subdue Carey with capsicum spray and he was seen hand-cuffed after allegedly assaulting the officers.

Two days later, the Australian Nine Network announced it would not renew the television contract of Carey after it was revealed that Carey had been arrested and charged with assaulting a police officer and Kate Neilson in Miami, Florida on 27 October 2007, after he allegedly glassed Neilsen in the face and neck with a wine glass. Wayne says the truth about that night in Miami is that they had dinner in the hotel restaurant. But they began arguing which prompted him to leave the table. "I was so angry," he says. "I stood up and threw the wine over Kate, then dropped the glass. At the same time Kate got up and leant forward, and then the glass must have hit her face. I kept walking—-I had no idea I'd cut her. I just went straight up to our room and took two sleeping tablets and within a matter of minutes was dead to the world. The next thing I knew I was woken up in my hotel room by four people I didn't know. I was drunk and I'd taken sleeping tablets. Suddenly the first thing I see is four people I don't know and I'm on the other side of the world. I reacted the same way I'm sure anybody would in that situation." Police Lieutenant Bill Schwartz, however reported:

When officers went and spoke to him, he immediately was belligerent, starting striking out at the officers, in fact, kicked one of the female officers in the face with his foot, elbowed another one in the side of the face. They had to wrestle him down and handcuff him. When he was in the police car, he used his head as a battering ram and tried to smash a hole between the front compartment of the police car and the prisoner compartment.

To stop Carey harming himself and damaging the car, the officers put him into a leather hobble restraint around his hands and legs. Carey faced up to fifteen years in jail and US$30,000 fines. Additionally Carey was fired from commentary jobs at 3AW and the Nine Network following the coverage of the two arrests. Ultimately Carey pleaded guilty to assaulting and resisting Miami police. In exchange for his guilty pleas, prosecutors agreed that Carey should only serve 50 hours of community service, attend alcohol- and anger-management classes, serve two years probation, and pay US$500 to a Miami police charity. As a consequence of his criminal record in the United States, Carey was refused an entry visa in October 2009.

On 16 March 2008 Carey revealed he was, for a long period, an abuser of alcohol and cocaine. On 31 March 2008 Carey appeared on interview show Enough Rope, where he talked candidly about his life and recent controversies. 1.5 million viewers tuned into the highly publicized interview.

Carey was attempting to visit Barwon Prison in February 2012 to speak to indigenous inmates as part of a mentoring program, however he was found to have traces of cocaine on his clothing following a routine drug scan. Carey was informed that he could enter the prison if he submitted to a strip search. He declined and left the correctional facility.