AFL premiership player, Daniel Kerr, has avoided more jail time for repeated domestic violence offences against his ex-partner over six years.

WARNING: This story contains details some readers may find distressing.

The hearing in a Perth court on Friday morning heard Kerr, 41, wielded physical, emotional and verbal abuse over the woman, destroyed her property and gained control of her finances and social media accounts.

The court was told the couple’s relationship was marred by drug and alcohol abuse.

State prosecutor, Fiona Clare, said Kerr repeatedly assaulted the woman, whose name is suppressed, including punching her while he had keys in his hands and then licking the blood off them.

The court heard on other occasions, Kerr grabbed the woman by her hair, threw her against a wall, punched her while she was holding their child and twice put his hand around her neck and choked her.

Ms Clare said Kerr also exercised “coercive” and “financial” control over the woman and would blame her for not being able to see his children.

In mid-2020, the woman took out a violence restraining order against Kerr before Ms Clare said she “gathered the strength” to talk about what had happened and reported him to police.

Ms Clare paid tribute to what she called the victim’s “bravery” saying she had showed tenacity of spirit in extremely difficult circumstances.

The court heard the woman said in a statement she was no longer scared of Kerr and had the best interests of everybody at heart, particularly his children.

Judge urged not to impose jail term

Kerr initially was going to defend the charges, but earlier this year pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in persistent family violence.

The plea followed Kerr’s diagnosis of suffering from paranoid schizophrenia, which happened while he was in custody on remand on a charge of setting fire to a house owned by his parents in 2021.

His lawyer, Kate Turtley-Chappel, said Kerr’s mental health issues and his drug use were the “driving” forces for the offending but now that he was properly medicated and receiving treatment, he had insight into what he had done.

Ms Turtely-Chappel said Kerr’s mental health issues had existed for some time but for years, until his formal diagnosis, he denied being unwell.

References were provided to the court from family members, including his mother who said she had seen a marked improvement in his behaviour and had now returned to having “a wonderful relationship” with her son.

She urged the Judge Wendy Gillan to impose a non-custodial sentence.

Jail term suspended

Judge Gillan imposed a suspended jail term of four years and six months with strict conditions that mean Kerr will be subject to supervision in the community, including possible urinalysis.

She stressed the sentence was not because Kerr was a former footballer but because of the steps he was taking to rehabilitate himself, particularly the treatment he was receiving for his mental illness.

She described his fall from grace as “considerable”, saying his AFL popularity is both a blessing and a curse because it meant his life was played out in the glare of the public.

Judge Gillan said while she was not satisfied Kerr was not a risk of reoffending, she maintained it was very much in the community’s interest that Kerr continue with his rehabilitation.

“You have to be vigilant to keep on top of your mental health issues,” she told Kerr.

Importantly, she said, Kerr had rebuilt his relationship with his family.

Judge Gillan noted it might have involved a lot of apologies, as Kerr nodded his head while he sat in the dock.

An order was then made declaring Kerr a “serial family violence offender” but because of his current compliance with treatment, Judge Gillan did not rule that he be subject to electronic monitoring.

Kerr is the brother of Australian soccer star Samantha Kerr and retired from the AFL in 2013 after playing 220 games for the West Coast Eagles.

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