'We do not need this man here' - disgraced ex-Rovers player kicked out of Australia
Disgraced former Blackburn Rovers footballer Jay Hart is awaiting imminent deportation from Australia back to the UK after two Melbourne women successfully petitioned the immigration minister to boot him out of the country.
The Lancashire-born father of one was the subject of two intervention orders taken out by Sarah Fardy and Cara Greedy who both met Hart via dating apps.
The former Clitheroe FC, Rossendale United and Longridge Town striker was also convicted of multiple assaults and had another two intervention orders taken out against him by women in Melbourne.
After enduring alleged terrifying abuse, Ms Fardy and Ms Greedy started an online petition via Change.org urging Mr Burke to revoke Hart's visa.
Hart, 34, who has been living in Australia since 2020 on a student visa, most recently played for Sydenham Park Football Club in Melbourne but his registration was cancelled after Ms Fardy notified the club with claims of his obsessive and possessive behaviour.
Ms Fardy subsequently reported him to Victoria Police when she says Hart threatened self-harm.
'I told them my partner is suicidal, he's pulled a knife and he's threatening to take sleeping tablets every time I ask him to leave the house and give me some space,' she said.
In a video posted on social media, Ms Fardy broke down in tears after Hart's deportation was delivered to her personally via a phone call from Mr Burke.
Ms Fardy receiving the news from Mr Burke (Image: facebook.com/TheREDHEARTCampaign) Hart, who was at the Blackburn Rovers academy, also played for Colne, Ramsbottom United, Padiham and Nelson, before a spell in Bhutan's national football league, before migrating to Melbourne.
He is currently detained in immigration detention and will be on the next flight back to the UK.
Jay Hart when he played for Thimphu City in Bhutan (Image: Archive)
In a statement, Mr Burke said: 'Last week a brave Australian woman was in touch with my office, expressing concern about the likely threat to other women caused by the continued presence in Australia of a visa holder from the UK.'
'I have clear powers to cancel someone's visa if I believe there is a risk they will harass, molest, intimidate or stalk people in Australia.
'This government has no tolerance for the perpetrators of family and domestic violence.
'There are many good people trying to come to Australia who I already have to say no to. We do not need this man here, he can leave.'
In 2015, Hart made national headlines when he was caught having sex in the manager's dugout with a female supporter wearing his Clitheroe FC shirt following a 4-1 defeat to Mossley AFC.
He was subsequently sacked by the club and his then girlfriend and mother of two Bryony Hibbert, who hails from Oswaldtwistle, branded his shocking behaviour 'a disgusting act.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Yahoo
Journalists among the injured in LA as ICE protests grow violent
By Helen Coster (Reuters) -Journalists have been among those injured during protests against immigration raids in Los Angeles in recent days, as police clashed with crowds of protesters and fired less-lethal munitions to disperse them. Since confrontations between demonstrators and law enforcement first flared over the weekend, more than 30 cases of "police violence" against journalists while covering the protests have been reported, according to a database maintained by the Los Angeles Press Club. The press club includes physical violence as well as efforts to impair journalists' coverage, such as nonconsensual bag searches, in the category. It updates its database with reports from journalists and incidents reported on social media. Some of the incidents have resulted in injuries. Lauren Tomasi, U.S. correspondent for 9News Australia, was hit by a projectile while reporting live in downtown Los Angeles on Sunday. Tomasi had her back to police and was speaking into the camera when an officer pointed a weapon toward her and fired it, according to a video of the incident. Toby Canham, a freelance photographer working for the New York Post, said he was struck by a projectile on Sunday, resulting in a bruised forehead. In an interview he said the projectile, which was "hard and rubbery," knocked him to the ground. The Post published an image shot by Canham showing a law enforcement official that he said had fired at him from about 100 yards (91 meters) away. Tomasi did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Matt Stanton, CEO of 9News parent company Nine, in a statement called the incident 'shocking' and emphasized the need for a formal investigation. A photo editor at the New York Post did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The press club said it was aware of 20 injuries to journalists during the LA protests, including at least five that required medical attention. While Reuters established that at least two journalists were injured, the news agency could not independently confirm whether Tomasi or Canham were targeted because they are journalists. Reuters also could not confirm the press club's figures. In remarks to Australia's National Press Club on Tuesday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tomasi was targeted as a journalist and that Australia has raised the issue with the Trump administration. An LAPD spokesperson did not confirm it had launched an investigation into the Tomasi incident, but highlighted a press release stating that its professional standards bureau 'will be investigating allegations of excessive force and other issues related to LAPD actions during the protests.' It is unclear whether those allegations relate to Tomasi. Other journalists included in the database said they were tear-gassed alongside protesters, kept in a small area, or had their bags searched by law enforcement without their consent. Asked about the incidents involving journalists, a White House spokesperson highlighted the risks to law enforcement officers and the public. 'Whenever violent, left-wing rioters engage in lawless behavior, they put innocent bystanders at risk," White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement. She added that Democratic California Governor Gavin Newsom and Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass "refused to quell the violent riots" and are "directly responsible for putting civilians in harm's way." Spokespeople for Newsom and Bass did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment. Bass, a Democrat, has said protests have been "largely peaceful", but there have also been incidents of protesters hurling projectiles at police, burning cars and looting. INADEQUATE TRAINING? Adam Rose, the press club's press rights chair, said the volume of incidents involving members of the media over just four days is unprecedented in Los Angeles. The high frequency could reflect a number of factors, including inadequate training of both law enforcement and journalists, Rose said. Canham, the freelance photographer who was injured and who previously served in the British Army, described a scene in which people were throwing water bottles at law enforcement before an officer "deliberately aimed" at him. "My main point is, please positively ID a target before you shoot," he told Reuters. Since Los Angeles relies heavily on transportation by car, law enforcement officials have a large responsibility to move protesters out of the way to allow traffic to flow, said Katherine Jacobsen, the U.S., Canada and Caribbean program coordinator at the Committee to Protect Journalists. The priority for moving traffic could create more opportunities for conflict between police and journalists, she said. Commentators on the right have taken to social media attacking coverage by some outlets, saying they were at times intentionally downplaying the protests. It was unclear if that criticism had any impact on the number of incidents involving journalists. Trump has said protesters have spit on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement on Saturday that ICE officers had been targeted in recent days and doxxed, the practice of publicizing private information for malicious reasons. Reuters could not confirm these incidents. GEORGE FLOYD PROTESTS The LA protests are not the first time journalists including some from Reuters covering U.S. civil unrest have suffered injuries, whether by accident or through deliberate attacks. The number of physical assaults on members of the media spiked in 2020, the year nationwide Black Lives Matter protests erupted after the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, according to Press Freedom Tracker, which describes itself as a nonpartisan news website and database. In subsequent years, assaults on journalists have moderated, the Press Freedom Tracker shows. Before the recent unrest in Los Angeles and other U.S. cities, only a handful of such cases have been logged by the database this year.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
CNN Reporter Mocked For Noting 'The Smell Of Weed Is In The Air' At LA ICE Protests
A CNN reporter is going viral for an offhand comment he made Tuesday about cannabis while covering protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Trump administration's harsh immigration policies in Los Angeles. During a segment at a protest site, reporter Nick Watt described the scene for viewers, claiming at one point that he saw 'some people who I would suggest might be interested in causing some trouble a little later on,' who were in masks and swimming goggles 'for the tear gas.' The Scottish-born Watt also noted graffiti reading 'F Trump' on a building being guarded by National Guardsmen and noted that 'the mood in the crowd is getting more agitated' as the clock moved closer to the 8 p.m. curfew declared by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass. But it was his next comment that lit a fire on social media' 'The smell of weed is in the air,' he said. 'People are not looking at all, Abby, like they are gonna abide by this curfew and get out of here,' he said. Watt's weed comments were mocked on social media because marijuana has been legal in California since 2016 and ― like it or not ― it's common to smell it even in places where there aren't massive protests. Also, while Watt's comments may have sounded as if he were hinting that tensions between protesters and the Guardsmen might lead to violence, many people pointed out that cannabis just tends to make people really mellow. HuffPost reached out to Watt for comment, but he did not immediately respond. However, his cannabis comments lit a fire on social media. Cannabis Industry Cautiously Optimistic It Won't Be Burned By Trump LA Police Swiftly Enforce Downtown Curfew As Protests Against Trump's Immigration Crackdown Continue Dozens Of Journalists Targeted, Shot, Detained While Covering LA Protests, Press Org Says
CNBC
6 hours ago
- CNBC
State AGs led by NY's Letitia James pressure Meta to clean up investment scams on Facebook
A group of 42 state attorneys general are calling on Meta to curb the rise of investment scams on Facebook that fraudulently use the images of Warren Buffett and other famous figures, New York Attorney General Letitia James said Wednesday. James said in a news release criminals are consistently evading Meta's automated and human review systems to post fake ads that leave retail investors saddled with millions of dollars in losses. Her office continues to see the scams months after reporting them to Meta, she added. The ads, touting access to Buffett, Elon Musk or Ark Invest's Cathie Wood, lure Facebook users to join chat groups on Meta-owned messaging platform, WhatsApp, according to the New York AG. There, users are unwittingly involved in alleged pump-and-dump schemes, where criminals boost the price of thinly traded stocks and quickly sell for a profit, leaving small investors with losses. Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is struggling to control the rise of cyber scams on its platforms and is a "cornerstone of the internet fraud economy," the Wall Street Journal reported last month. The problem is global in nature, with one notable lawsuit being brought by an Australian billionaire who alleges that Meta's artificial intelligence-run advertising program created and amplified false ads using his likeness. "Thousands of Facebook users have lost hundreds of millions of dollars to these scams and Meta must do more to stop these fraudulent ads from running on its platforms," James said. "I am leading a bipartisan coalition calling on Meta to step up its review of ads to stop these scams. I also urge all New Yorkers to be extra careful before putting their money in investments they see advertised on social media." The AGs urged Meta to boost its policing of ads, including with more human review, saying that unless they curb the scams, Meta should stop running investment ads altogether. Joining James were AGs from states including California, Connecticut, Georgia, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
