Slater receives suspended prison sentence for domestic abuse charges that amounted up to four years in jail.
Slater receives suspended prison term for domestic violence.
Michael Slater, a former Australian Test cricket player, will be released from custody immediately on a suspended sentence after being found guilty of domestic violence offences.
His attorneys hurried to complete a separate allegation of drunk and drug driving, which may have delayed his release.
Slater, 55, entered a guilty plea to seven crimes, including two counts of choking a lady, and was sentenced in Maroochydore District Court on Tuesday.
The charges, which also included burglary, assault, and stalking, were related to crimes that were committed in December 2023 on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.
During a welfare check on Slater in March 2024, authorities discovered that he had also sent a woman abusive messages.
Slater has been detained for more than a year and has tried several times without success to obtain bail.
Slater was given a four-year prison sentence by Judge Glen Cash on Tuesday, with a partial suspension following his completion of the sentence. Slater’s remaining sentence is suspended for five years, during which he runs the possibility of being arrested again for a serious crime.
After being sentenced for domestic violence, Slater also entered a guilty plea to a drink and drug driving offence at Maroochydore Magistrates Court, which allowed him to be released.
In 2022, Slater was found guilty by a NSW magistrate of common assault, violating a restraining order, and two more crimes against a lady.
The woman collapsed onto a kitchen benchtop after Slater, who was intoxicated and unruly, grabbed her hoodie. In violation of a court order, he made over 100 attempts to contact her via phone, text, and email during the ensuing months.
Slater played 74 Test matches for Australia after making his debut during the 1993 Ashes tour, scoring 14 hundreds and 5312 runs at an average of 42.83. 42 ODIs were also played by him. In 2004, Slater gave up cricket to pursue a career as a television commentator.