Footy legend Steve Renouf's stunning statement to cops is revealed as he learns his fate after driving while almost four times over the limit
The Brisbane Broncos legend has apologised over the incident after being fined and having his licence disqualified on Wednesday, earlier tabling a character reference from his former coach Wayne Bennett.
The 55-year-old returned a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.197 after being pulled over for a late-night roadside breath test in the Brisbane suburb of Red Hill on July 1, the court heard.
Renouf was the vehicle's sole occupant, turning off the car and exiting before being asked by police to sit back down, police prosecutor Kiara D'Odorico said.
The prosecutor said Renouf then told officers: 'You've got me, I'm drunk.'
The former Queensland flyer was unsteady on his feet, slurring his words and dropped several items on the ground while trying to get his licence, Ms D'Odorico said.
Renouf said 'no, no, no' and attempted to walk away after being told he would be detained and subject to further testing.
He was handcuffed and taken to a watchhouse for further tests, Brisbane Magistrates Court heard.
Defence counsel Angelo Vernados said Renouf had no recollection of the incident after being at a nearby Paddington venue with friends.
'He left the establishment and clearly made the foolish decision of getting into the car,' Mr Vernados told the court.
The court heard Renouf suffered a hypoglycaemic episode at the watchhouse as a result of low blood-sugar.
Police gave him jelly beans and made a call to Renouf's partner, who provided instructions on how to manage him.
Mr Vernados said Renouf had deep remorse, embarrassment and serious reflections about his actions, tabling the character reference from legendary NRL coach Bennett.
'Under no circumstances is this gentlemen seeking special consideration from the court today,' he told the court.
'He's a man of great integrity and been open and honest about the circumstances.'
Renouf said he was extremely remorseful for his actions.
'I am a role model. I have been a role model in the community for a long time,' he told reporters outside court.
'It deeply hurts me and I apologise if I've upset anyone that's looked up to me.'
Magistrate Judith Daley weighed up the impact a conviction could have on Renouf's travel internationally for work and said to his credit, he had no similar traffic offences.
Renouf was fined $1200 and disqualified from driving for 11 months after pleading guilty to driving under the influence of liquor.
No conviction was recorded.
Renouf played 183 games and scored 142 tries for NRL club Brisbane, claiming four premierships including the Broncos' maiden title in 1992.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Disturbing details emerge about mother who hid pregnancy from her partner then put the baby in a garbage bag behind a lounge
A woman who hid the fact she was pregnant until her partner found the baby's discarded body in a plastic bag behind their sofa has fronted court. Monique Ellen Burton, 35, was charged with interfering with a corpse after her newborn baby boy died on August 19, 2022. She appeared in Perth District Court this week. The court heard Burton gave birth in her house and wrapped the baby in clothing before hiding him behind the piece of furniture. She said he was stillborn and an investigation was unable to determined if the baby had taken a first breath. Her partner later discovered what he guessed was baby but, instead of checking what was in the bag, he put it unopened in a freezer in the backyard of their property in Geraldton, Western Australia. It was later found by police after she went to hospital and medical staff found evidence she had given birth, reported the ABC. Her defence lawyer, Anthony Elliot, told the court she had suffered from emotional anxiety which was linked with pregnancies. A psychological report revealed Burton suffered from adjustment disorder, depressive episodes, unresolved grief, relationship difficulties and anxiety. State prosecutor Jehna Winter said Burton hid the pregnancy from her partner, Shaun Bradley Balaam, medical staff and the authorities. She had explained her stomach bloating was just a side effect of liver cirrhosis to help conceal the fact she was carrying a child, the court heard. Burton was also charged with 11 counts of fraud after she set up a GoFundMe page asking for donations because of a made-up illness. She accepted $560 in donations from strangers before her scheme was exposed. He partner woke up the morning after the birth to find his partner of 14 years pale and bloody in the bathroom and she was taken to hospital. Nursing staff noticed she was suffering post-partum symptoms but Burton denied having given birth recently. During this time Balaam returned home to search for a mobile phone his mother had lost, which was when the baby was discovered. The court was told Balaam did not check inside the bag but had held a suspicion that it may have been a baby as his partner had a history of concealing pregnancies. Instead of checking what was inside the bag Mr Balaam placed it in another bag which he then moved to the freezer because he said that was what would happen in a morgue. Burton continued to deny she had given birth even after she was flown to King Edward Memorial Hospital in Perth. 'I don't know what is wrong with me,' she told hospital staff. WA Police then attended her property and found the discarded baby in the freezer. Burton was arrested and interviewed by police in January 2024. She told them her memory was hazy and that she thought it had been a dream. Burton pleaded guilty to interfering with a corpse in the Geraldton Magistrates Court in November 2024.
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Australia's intelligence boss reveals the common act that is putting the country at risk - so are YOU guilty of it?
Australia's intelligence boss has warned that people who boast about their access to sensitive information are openly painting themselves as targets for foreign spying operations. ASIO director-general Mike Burgess chided people who held security clearances or who had access to classified information openly promoting themselves on social media at the annual Hawke lecture at the University of South Australia on Thursday. More than 35,000 Australians indicated they had access to classified or private information on a single professional networking site, he said, adding 7000 referred to working in the defence sector and critical technologies. Nearly 2500 boasted about having a security clearance, he said. 'All too often we make it all too easy,' he said. Almost 400 people explicitly said they worked on the AUKUS project, under which Australia will acquire nuclear-powered submarines as the keystone of its military power. Mr Burgess put the cost of espionage - including the theft of intellectual property resulting in lost revenue and responding to incidents - at $12.5 billion in 2023/24. This included cyber spies stealing nearly $2 billion of trade secrets and intellectual property from Australian companies. The number came from a conservative Australian Institute of Criminology analysis that took into account details for ASIO investigations, he said. Hackers stealing commercially sensitive information from one Australian exporter gave a foreign country a leg up in a subsequent contract negotiation, 'costing Australia hundreds of millions of dollars', Mr Burgess said. The director-general also revealed details of multiple espionage operations as he warned officials, businesses and the general public about interference threats and the impact of lax security. Russian spies were deported in 2022 after an ASIO investigation found they were 'recruiting proxies and agents to obtain sensitive information, and employing sophisticated tradecraft to disguise their activities', he said. Russia, China and Iran were singled out as adversaries but 'you would be genuinely shocked by the number and names of countries trying to steal our secrets', he said. ASIO, the nation's domestic intelligence agency, disrupted 24 major espionage and foreign interference operations in the last three years, more than the previous eight years combined. Mr Burgess said spies used a security clearance-holder to obtain information about trade negotiations and convinced one state bureaucrat to log into a database to obtain details of people a foreign regime considered dissidents. The director-general also detailed how a foreign intelligence service ordered spies to apply for Australian government jobs, including at national security institutions, to access classified information. Another example included a visiting academic linked to a foreign government breaking into a restricted lab with sensitive technology and filming inside, he said. 'They are just the tip of an espionage iceberg,' Mr Burgess said. Foreign companies tied to intelligence services had also tried to access private data, buy land near military sites and collaborate with researchers developing sensitive technology. 'In recent years, for example, defence employees travelling overseas have been subjected to covert room searches, been approached at conferences by spies in disguise and given gifts containing surveillance devices,' Mr Burgess added. Hackers had also broken into the network of a peak industry body to steal sensitive information about exports and foreign investment, as well as into a law firm to take information about government-related cases, he said.
Daily Mail
3 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Revealed: The VERY elite private school past of the latest alleged childcare predator accused of unspeakable crimes against kids
A childcare worker accused of indecently filming children has been unmasked as a private school graduate who failed in his bid to become a policeman. The identity of David William James, 26, had been protected by a suppression order which was lifted when his case was mentioned on Thursday. James is charged with nine counts of aggravated use of a child to make child abuse material, four counts of possessing abuse data or material and one of using a child to make abuse material. Police allege James photographed or filmed ten victims aged five to six while working at six out-of-school-hours (OOSH) care centres between April 2021 and May 2024. The centres were all located in Sydney 's north, including at Artarmon, the suburb where James lived. James had been employed at 58 OOSH locations between March 2018 and September 2024 but investigators had allegedly found evidence of crimes committed at only six of them. Police said James was accredited to work with children but that certification had since been removed. James did not appear in person on Thursday when his case was mentioned in Downing Centre Local Court, where Deputy Chief Magistrate Michael Antrum lifted a non-publication order on his name. Daily Mail understands that police will allege James filmed boys using the toilet and exposed himself in front of children. James, who attended Knox Grammar at Wahroonga, was a probationary police constable between December 2021 and September 2022. He failed to finish his probation period and resigned from the NSW Police Force in May 2023 after a stint working in a civilian capacity. NSW Police admitted on Thursday that James was rejected by the force because he had failed to disclose his part-time childcare employment. 'During his employment, the man failed to seek the required approval to engage in secondary employment, and as such, police were unaware of his concurrent role in the childcare sector,' a police spokesperson said. 'We acknowledge the seriousness of the allegations and condemn any behaviour that places our community's most vulnerable members at risk.' On Thursday, AFP acting Assistant Commissioner Brett James said its investigation into James began after the detection of child abuse material on the dark web in June 2024. 'Today, court orders were lifted, so we can now talk about this investigation,' acting AC James said. It was revealed last month, before James' name could be published, that 1,200 letters had been sent to parents and carers who may have crossed paths with him 'The non-publication order issued by the court was to allow our investigators the time to carefully work through all the available evidence to establish a full picture of the alleged offending.' Acting AC James said police had examined 142,000 files on the alleged paedophile's devices which amounted to 18.9GB of material. It was revealed last month, before James's name could be published, that 1,200 letters had been sent to parents and carers who may have crossed paths with him. The letters were sent as part of process led by NSW Police and the AFP under the Joint Child Protection Response Program. Investigators asked parents and carers who received the letter to read it carefully, including instructions for contacting a hotline with any relevant concerns. Police were working with NSW Health, NSW Department of Communities and Justice, NSW Department of Education and Training and the Office of the Children's Guardian. James was initially charged last September with refusing to grant Australian Federal Police access to his phone and was arrested again a month later when he was charged with further offences. In a joint statement released on June 19, the AFP and NSW Police said James' alleged offending involved a 'very small number of children'. James has been refused bail since October and is next due to face court on August 21. Full list of places where alleged abuser David James worked Artarmon Before and After School Care: Willoughby City Council - June 2019 Bales Park OOSH Services - December 2018 Beacon Hill Vacation Care: Northern Beaches Council - December 2018 Camp Australia: Artarmon - February - December 2022 Camp Australia: St Andrews Cathedral - June 2018 Camp Australia: St Luke's Grammar School - April 2018 Chatswood ASC & VC: Willoughby City Council - November 2018 Cromer Vacation Care: Northern Beaches Council - January 2020 Cubby House: Artarmon - June to August 2019 Forestville Vacation Care: Northern Beaches Council - July 2018 to April 2022 The Girls & Boys Brigade: Surry Hills - November 2020 Gowrie NSW Erskineville Outside of School Hours Care - June 2018 to February 2019 Gowrie NSW: North Sydney Community VC - April 2023 Helping Hands: Bourke Street - March 2019 to April 2024 Helping Hands: Lane Cove West - April 2018 to September 2024 Helping Hands: North Ryde - May 2018 to August 2023 Helping Hands: St Ives Park Public School - December 2023 to May 2024 Helping Hands: Willoughby Public School - April 2018 to December 2022 Hornsby South Before and After School Care - May 2018 Jigsaw: Anzac Park Public School - May 2018 KGV OSHC: City of Sydney - November 2018 to April 2022 KidsCo Australia: Virtual Holiday Program - July to August 2021 Knox Grammar High School - March 2018 to July 2020 Knox Grammar School OSHClub - May 2024 Manly Vale VC: Northern Beaches Council - April 2019 to July 2022 North Shore Coaching College - July 2023 to September 2024 OSHClub: Barker College - May 2018 to May 2024 OSHClub: Beaumont Road - May 2018 to April 2023 OSHClub: Fort Street - May 2018 OSHClub: Highfields - April to November 2018 OSHClub: Hornsby South - August 2018 to July 2023 OSHClub: Knox Grammar Preparatory - May 2018 to February 2020 OSHClub: Newington Lindfield - February 2020 OSHClub: Smalls Road - February 2022 to August 2023 Our Lady of Good Counsel OSHC: Forestville - August 2018 to March 2019 Our Lady of the Rosary OSHC: Waitara - October 2018 Primary OSHCare: Chatswood - September 2019 to March 2020 Primary OSHCare: Forestville - February 2021 Primary OSHCare: Frenchs Forest - September 2022 Primary OSHCare: Killarney Heights - January 2023 Primary OSHCare: Mowbray - March 2020 to May 2024 Primary OSHCare: St Ives - July 2021 to January 2024 Primary OSHCare: St Ives North - February to March 2024 Pyrmont OSHC: City of Sydney - October 2018 to July 2022 SCECS: OSHC Rose Bay - January to May 2023 St Kieran's OSHC: Manly Vale - May 2018 to February 2019 St Martin's Davidson OSHC - September 2018 St Mary's OOSH: Erskineville - December 2020 Stanmore OSHC Service: Inner West Council - July to August 2018 TeamKids: ANZAC Park Public School - February 2021 to June 2023 TheirCare: Ravenswood School for Girls - May 2023 TheirCare: St Andrew's Cathedral School - December 2020 Ultimo OSHC: City of Sydney - July 2018 to September 2024 Uniting OSHC: Brookvale - July 2023 West Lindfield Getaway Vacation Care: Ku-ring-gai Municipal Council - April 2018 Willoughby Kids House - July 2023 YMCA Bankstown City - July 2018
