Former AFL player Nick Stevens facing trial accused of defrauding pool customers in Mildura

A customer who hired a former AFL star for a pool installation said a hole was left in the ground and he was left with “ridiculous” excuses, a jury was told.

Nick Stevens, who played more than 200 games between Port Adelaide and Carlton, is on trial in the Victorian District Court accused of defrauding six families of more than $170,000.

He denied 18 charges, including gaining financial advantage by deception, theft and using forged documents.

Prosecutors allege Mr Stevens deceived six customers in the Victorian town of Mildura by dropping them off at either illegally installed pools or large holes in the ground.

Ben Knight, one of the people the defendant allegedly defrauded, told the court he was considering replacing a pool when he contacted Mr Stevens in 2017.

Mr Knight said he paid more than $34,000 for the new pool, with it expected to be installed by November 10 that year.

Questioned by prosecutor Toni Stokes about what happened, Mr Knight said the pool “never came” and that he was given excuses “constantly”.

“There were a lot of reasons why I didn’t remember the first one,” he said.

“From then until late January there was another delay every week.”

Mr Knight said he was told there had been too much rain, the delivery truck had broken down and Mr Stevens was in a legal battle with supplier Leisure Pools.

“He eventually stopped returning our calls and that was it,” he said.

“The excuses are getting ridiculous.”

Mr Knight said he received a $10,000 refund in about February 2018 but nothing further was done after that date.

He told the jury he was faced with a “big hole” and “quite a mess” in the backyard.

Under cross-examination by Mr. Stevens’ attorney, Jim Stavris, Mr. Knight denied pressuring the accused man into installing a pool without permission or physically threatening him.

“It’s a fabrication… it says a lot of things,” Mr. Knight said.

Another customer, Julie Martin, gave evidence of accepting Mr Stevens’ offer for a pool installation in January 2017; this offering was approximately $4000 to $5000 cheaper than its competitors.

Ms. Martin said she received a quote of $26,500, which included the pool, construction costs and permits.

He said Mr. Stevens would come to the house every few days to check on the workers, but they always had excuses when they asked for a copy of the council permit.

“It was always, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, I forgot,’ or ‘I lost it in paperwork at home,'” she said.

In about April 2017, Ms. Martin said she and her husband, Damien Martin, went to the City of Mildura offices where they were told no permits had been issued for construction.

He told the court a stop work order was issued and he received a full refund along with the removal of the pool in July 2017.

Ms. Martin said she was left with a hole in her backyard before she had another company install the pool.

Prosecutors allege Mr Stevens ran a landscaping company in the regional city before signing up to become a Fun Pools distributor in 2017.

It is alleged that he received training from another company on the legality of pool sales and installation, and that six pools were installed under his supervision, before deciding to “go out on his own”.

Ms. Stokes claimed Mr. Stevens received tens of thousands of dollars in payments from six families even though he knew he was not qualified as a registered builder and needed insurance with a large construction contract.

“The defendant knew how to install a legally compliant pool because he had already done it six times,” he said.

Ms Stokes said it was alleged Mr Stevens was suffering from “serious cash flow problems” at the time and was spending clients’ money on other things, including pools for other clients.

Allegedly, three families were left with “illegal and poor quality” swimming pools, while three other families were left with “giant holes in their backyards”.

At the start of the trial, Mr. Stavris asked jurors to listen “very, very carefully to the evidence” and to consider Mr. Stevens’ “intent” in dealing with the families.

“I would like to inform you that if someone intends to defraud or deceive someone, they do not give the money back,” he said.

The trial continues.