Nick Stevens: Former AFL player accused of defrauding pool business customers in Mildura

A former AFL player is on trial for allegedly defrauding six families through his snooker business and is accused of being a “habitual liar”.

Nick Stevens has been charged with fraud for allegedly taking $171,000 from customers in the regional Victorian city of Mildura while working as a distributor for Leisure Pools.

It allegedly left six families with either “poorly” installed pools or large holes in their backyards.

The former footballer, who played 231 games between Port Adelaide and Carlton, pleaded not guilty to all charges, claiming that he aimed to provide fully legal pools to his clients.

In her closing argument to the jury on Monday, prosecutor Toni Stokes said the Crown would no longer seek a verdict on the four burglary charges initially put forward as alternatives.

Instead, he said, jurors will be tasked with reaching verdicts on 13 counts of obtaining a financial benefit by deception and one charge of using forged documents.

“The real issue, therefore, is whether the defendant intended to establish a lawful pool for each complainant,” Ms Stokes said.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the answer is simple. The defendant never intended to build lawful swimming pools for these complainants, he deceived them for his own benefit and that, ladies and gentlemen, is why you are here.”

The court heard Mr Stevens ran a landscaping business in Mildura and in 2017 he wanted to branch out into the pool business and become the local distributor for Leisure Pools.

Under the supervision of registered builder Brian McDonnell and his company Bricol, Ms Stokes said Mr Stevens built six legally compliant pools before he allegedly “decided to go out on his own”.

Mr. Stevens allegedly knew that he could not install a legally compliant pool without this inspection because he was unable to obtain a major construction contract, insurance and city permits.

On the witness stand last week, Mr Stevens told the jury he had each of his clients fill out forms to appoint a building inspector for the works and to apply for a building permit from the council.

He said he sent them to Bricol to finish because he believed he would receive a copy of the license after installation.

“As I said, it was my job to fill out those two forms and that was the role I played,” Mr. Stevens said.

“I was involved in signing the paperwork and giving it to Brian, Brian always got the permits.”

But Ms Stokes said there was a “clear contradiction” between the evidence of Mr Stevens and other witnesses in the case, with almost all of the complainants saying they did not remember signing the forms and Mr McDonnell saying he had no contact with Mr Stevens after March 2017 and no contact with the six families.

“You remember I said the defendant was a liar,” the prosecutor said.

“He didn’t admit it… You can tell from all the evidence that he’s not an honest person.”

He told the jury that Mr. Stevens “could not produce” any of these forms; He first claimed it was because the police had broken into his computer, and then he “changed his story” to say he couldn’t access his Gmail account.

“If there were documents that would exonerate you… wouldn’t you do anything and everything to get them?” Mrs. Stokes asked.

“This is not believable at all.”

He also claimed Mr Stevens told a series of lies to his clients, blaming others for delays and permit issues.

Ms Stokes said Mr Stevens left Midura in February 2018 and moved to Melbourne, where he allegedly began to stop responding to angry customers.

One family received a full refund while the other received a partial refund, the jury was told.

In response, defense lawyer Jim Stavris took the jury to an email from Brian McDonnell saying he would support Mr Stevens “for as long as it takes” until he completed the process of becoming a registered builder.

“Mr. Stevens said he had an agreement with Bricol and a mechanism to obtain those permits,” he said.

Mr Stavris said the families had each given evidence that they chose Mr Stevens because he offered the “cheapest deal” in Mildura.

Mr. Stavris will continue his closing argument to the jury when the trial resumes on Tuesday.