Ex-AFL player jailed for defrauding families over pools

A former AFL star has been jailed for defrauding multiple families who paid him to install pools, leaving some families with giant holes in their backyards.

Former Carlton and Port Adelaide footballer Nick Stevens, 46, was found guilty by a jury on 12 charges of obtaining financial advantage by deception and one count of using forged documents.

He was acquitted of one charge.

Stevens stole approximately $158,000 from six families in regional areas through his pool business in 2017.

While he installed six pools legally under the supervision of a registered builder, he set out on his own without the necessary licenses, registrations, permits and insurance.

He took money from families but left some with pools that weren’t up to code, and others were left with unfilled holes in their yards because they didn’t install pools at all.

Stevens was sentenced to nine months in prison followed by a two-year community corrections order in the District Court of Victoria on Monday.

Judge Fiona Todd said: “You knew at the time you were paid money from clients that your representations that you had the appropriate authorizations were false or possibly false.”

“What you did had a corrosive effect on the goodwill and trust that provide so much good in a society.”

Most of the victims, the court heard, were retirees or near-retirees who had little “fat” in their budget and were trying to set up swimming pools for their children or grandchildren in the local town of Mildura.

Stevens, who made 231 appearances in the AFL until his retirement due to injury in 2009, continues to maintain his innocence.

He denied 13 accusations and took the matter to court.

Three of his trials concluded in March before the fourth jury reached its verdict.