Wallabies star Cooper charged with burglary
By AAP, 7 Dec 2009 AAP is a Roar Pro
- Tagged:
- Quade Cooper, Queensland Reds, Rugby Union, wallabies
120 Have your say
Wallabies and Queensland Reds star Quade Cooper has reportedly been charged by police after he allegedly robbed a residence on the Gold Coast on Sunday morning.
Cooper was released from Southport watchhouse on Sunday afternoon, charged with one count of burglary.
A police media spokesman said a 21-year-old man had been charged with one count of burglary of a residence in Surfers Paradise.
He is due to appear in the Southport Magistrates Court on December 11.
Cooper recently returned from a breakthrough Wallabies tour, where he played all four Tests in Australia’s Grand Slam quest.
A Queensland Rugby Union spokesman declined to comment as the matter was before the courts.
Asked if Cooper would be stood down, the QRU spokesman replied: “We’ve got to establish the full facts of the matter before we can decide what action if any action will be taken.”
UPDATE: Quade Cooper’s law firm has released a media statement. In it, they state:
“This firm has been retained to act on behalf of Quade Cooper in relation to the charge against him alleging that he committed an offence of burglary on the Gold Coast over the weekend.
Given that Quade has been charged and the matter is before the Court, we are limited in what we can say on Quade’s behalf about the cicrumstances giving rise to the alleged offence.
Similarly, as much as he would like to, Quade is unable to make any comments to the media about the circumstances.
However, we can say that the investigations that need to be undertaken in this matter are far from concluded and it would be unfair for anyone to pre-judge Quade or to speculate as to what in fact happened both prior to and at the time of the alleged offence. Quade, like everyone else, is entitled to have the circumstances fully investigated and, if the matter progresses to that point, entitled to a fair trial.”
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sheek said | December 7th 2009 @ 7:00am | Report comment
Maybe the Wallabies have finally found the inside back that can unlock opposition defences….. ha, ha!
If the charges are proven, Cooper should never wear a Wallabies jersey again, no matter how good he might be.
Brett McKay said | December 7th 2009 @ 7:18am | Report comment
I’ll say upfront that Cooper should remain innocent until proven guilty, of course…. You’d like to hope it’s some kind of plausible explanation, but best not to speculate on these things.
But I agree with you Sheek, if the charges are proven, you’d have to imagine precedent with the Tuqiri case has been set in terms of ARU punishment. If Cooper’s charges remain and he is tried accordingly, then surely that is his rugby career done.
Ora said | December 7th 2009 @ 7:21am | Report comment
If only people knew what Mr Tuqiri got up to…..
Ora said | December 7th 2009 @ 7:22am | Report comment
Then again surely our Aussie bretheren must know by now because it’s certainly no secret this side of the ditch
Brett McKay said | December 7th 2009 @ 7:41am | Report comment
we’ve certainly heard the rumours, Ora. But regardless if they are true, there’s still no criminal charges in Tuqiri’s case, that was my point…
Ora said | December 7th 2009 @ 1:57pm | Report comment
I know so he should never have been dropped, funny thing politics
Vented Relief said | December 7th 2009 @ 8:02am | Report comment
i thought tuqiri was on the last of his three strikes. Considering this is cooper’s first strike (unless you count that food fight) them perhaps he should be given another chance?
Bay35Pablo said | December 7th 2009 @ 8:19am | Report comment
VR, exactly. The media wil get hold of this story, and try to show the “inconsictency” between Lote and Cooper if he isn’t sacked. Thus forgetting Lote was on his last warning, whereas Cooper is a cleanskin.
Will be interesting to see the explanation. “I was drunk and thought it was my house … “?
Yikes said | December 7th 2009 @ 8:29am | Report comment
No, Bay – according to the Courier Mail: “Earlier this year, Cooper was fined $10,000 by the Australian Rugby Union for breaking the window of a taxi in a skylarking incident outside a Brisbane nightclub.”
So with the food thing, this will be now the third time he’s had to be disciplined. Probably only an official second strike, but still….
Bay35Pablo said | December 7th 2009 @ 10:50am | Report comment
Old faithful you are Yikes. Offical line on cue.
From memory Lote was publicly described as being on his last warning. I can’t recall Cooper being publicly called out and told this?
It sounds like he has been a penaut, and may well deserve to get castigated, but I’ll be interested to see whether the media s consistent ont this. The usually dreary lynch mob approach is boring me to tears.
The Other Reds Fan. said | December 7th 2009 @ 5:47pm | Report comment
Wasn’t George Smith found guilty of assault?
Joh4Canberra said | December 7th 2009 @ 8:48am | Report comment
I don’t think this is Cooper’s third strike yet. But surely the severity of the strike matters as well. Some things are too serious to be given a second or third chance. A food fight you can put down to immaturity and no-one should be hung out to dry for a first offence of that nature. But burglary? Nothing ever justifies that. This is an allegation of a serious crime which if proven attracts jail time. If this thing goes to court then Cooper isn’t just looking at having his rugby contract torn up he’s also looking at spending time in the slammer. And the victim of his alleged conduct isn’t a team mate but presumably a random member of the public. If these allegations are proven to be true then that shouldn’t count as one of three strikes for mine. It’s too serious a crime.
Seriously, for Quade Cooper’s sake I hope that this is all a gross misunderstanding. I don’t want to see him suffer and not everyone who is arrested and charged with a crime is actually guilty of a crime. Sometimes innocent people do get arrested and charged with serious crimes so I’m certainly not jumping to any conclusions. For instance, overzealous police have even been known to arrest people for breaking into their own homes (which is no crime). But in cases like that things are usually sorted out fairly quick smart after the arrest and the person is never actually charged (or charges are dropped as soon as the police realise what has happened). If Cooper has actually been charged as this article reports then the police must think they have a half-decent case against him. I would advise Mr Cooper to get himself a very good lawyer. But like I said, I’m not jumping to any conclusions. We will just have to wait until the legal process takes its course.
PastHisBest said | December 7th 2009 @ 9:23am | Report comment
“If this thing goes to court then Cooper isn’t just looking at having his rugby contract torn up he’s also looking at spending time in the slammer.”
Not for a first offence. He’ll be given diversion and no conviction recorded so he can still travel for his career.
Joh4Canberra said | December 7th 2009 @ 10:10am | Report comment
These things are in the discretion of the court and as a matter of practice you’re probably right. But it will of course depend on the circumstances of the case and how sympathetic the court is. A custodial sentence is not impossible for a first offence.
Daniel J said | December 7th 2009 @ 7:39pm | Report comment
It does not matter if your conviction is not recorded, most countries with visa applications will stipulate that any conviction on any charged whether recorded or not must be disclosed, if he is found guilty it would have some serious repercussions for his career, however a judge would also take that into account with sentencing, in that case you are right he probably wouldn’t get a conviction recorded nonetheless it could have serious consequences for travelling through out the world
Joe4Canberra said | December 8th 2009 @ 2:35pm | Report comment
@Daniel J: spot on. Having “no conviction recorded” (which is a matter of sentencing policy after guilt has been proven) is not at all the same as not being convicted of a crime in the first place (which is a question of whether you’ve been proven guilty) and it is the latter and not the former that foreign governments want to know when it comes to visa applications.
Technically it’s going to come down to the question that foreign authorities ask. If they asked something like “do you have any convictions recorded against your name?” then of course you could truthfully answer “no”. But they don’t actually ask questions like that because in considering whether to grant you a visa foreign governments are not interested in the technicalities of Australian sentencing law. Rather, they are interested in whether you’ve actually committed a crime. So they would ask something like “have you ever been convicted of any crime?” in which case the truthful answer would be “yes”. Of course in the “give details” section you could and would then explain the fact that the sentencing judge decided that “no conviction recorded” was an appropriate sentence.
Foreign governments may go even further than asking about whether you’ve been *convicted* and actually ask whether you’ve been *charged* with any crimes. If this is the question then even people who have been tried and acquitted would still have to answer the question in the affirmative and then mention the fact and circumstances of the acquittal in the “give details” section.
Daniel J said | December 9th 2009 @ 5:02pm | Report comment
@ Joe – Cheers for the elaboration i simple didn’t have enough time to articulate it any further
but yes you articulated it superbly, enough hints i guess as to what my profession is….. But generally as you stated below, i think it would be incredible unlikely that he would be able to source a professional sporting visa for most western countries if convicted, but i guess we will have to wait and see how this pans out.
However, burglary is a particularly serious offence in QLD under the QLD Criminal Code there could also be many different aggravating factors that the DPP could pursue, however that again is another issue. How hard will the DPP push their case against him? and what actual evidence can be produced? Can’t wait till Friday!
Joh4Canberra said | December 10th 2009 @ 4:38am | Report comment
@Daniel J: No prizes for guessing my profession either (if you call it a “profession” that is; I’m not currently gainfully employed in the law since I am undertaking a PhD in constitutional law).
PastHisBest said | December 7th 2009 @ 9:24am | Report comment
“…overzealous police have even been known to arrest people for breaking into their own homes (which is no crime)”
Hell of an insight there Joh.
sheek said | December 7th 2009 @ 10:40am | Report comment
Let’s get over this ’3 strikes’ business. The (apparent) severity of the transgression renders the 3 strikes policy inconsequential.
This is a criminal matter. Cooper is a privileged sportsman. There is no excuse whatsoever for his apparent behaviour.
Cattledog said | December 7th 2009 @ 1:40pm | Report comment
Agree with that Sheek. If proven, no Wallaby or Reds jersey. Game over!
Daniel J said | December 7th 2009 @ 7:33pm | Report comment
You will find that if the charges are proven, he will not be able to gain entry into certain foreign countries, so in effect his whole professional rugby career would be over.
Joe4Canberra said | December 8th 2009 @ 3:00pm | Report comment
Maybe, maybe not. It will certainly make it a lot harder for him to get a visa to ply his trade overseas and limit his options but I wouldn’t say it would be *impossible* for him. Granting a visa is a discretionary act. A conviction thererfore doesn’t automatically mean no visa. But it will of course increase the likelihood of being denied one. So there’s still a chance that you can get one even after a conviction. I know for a fact that in the current climate it’s quite tough to get a visa for the UK so unless he has a British or other EU country passport we don’t already know about I think he can say goodbye to that option. Not sure about Ireland, France, Italy or Japan (the other major NH desitnations for professional rugby players) though. And then of course there’s South Africa and New Zealand in the SH. Having been born in NZ, Cooper is presumably a NZ citizen so conviction or not he would have no legal difficulties entering NZ. Whether they’d want to give a convicted criminal (not to mention someone inelligible for the All Blacks due to the fact that he’s already played test footy for Australia) a contract is of course a different matter,
It’s interesting to consider the case of Greg Bird. After his NRL contract was torn up he sought contracts overseas. At that stage he hadn’t been tried for any crime let alone convicted of one. He had merely been charged with a crime to be tried at a future date and in the eyes of the law was innocent until proven guilty. But the mere fact that he had been charged was still enough for him to be denied a visa for the UK. Despite being rejected a visa for the UK Bird managed to get one to play in France. But like I said at the time that was just unproven charges and not an actual conviction. Who knows what the French (or other countries) would do if a player had actually been *convicted* at the time of applying for a visa.
jacko said | December 7th 2009 @ 7:00am | Report comment
what the ?!?!?!
macavity said | December 7th 2009 @ 7:34am | Report comment
a B&E? serious??
Are the ARU that hard up that their stars have to supplement their incomes through property crime?
If he wanted to be a naughty boy he could have at least had the decency to get drunk and crap in a hallway.
Barking Glider said | December 7th 2009 @ 7:50am | Report comment
Hadn’t heard about this on the radio or morning tv news. Perhaps someone should expose Cooper’s brief time as a rugby league junior and then it would get nationwide coverage “on the hour, every hour” as “NRL prodigy charged”. It’s all evidence that rugby has fallen off the nation’s radar I guess.
The Link said | December 7th 2009 @ 8:35am | Report comment
Peter Fitzsimons is digging through his junior registrations as we speak.
Vincent said | December 7th 2009 @ 8:23am | Report comment
Why? Why? Why? Quade…why?
Harry said | December 7th 2009 @ 8:36am | Report comment
What. The. Fark. ?!
I have become used to Queensland losing key players in somewhat bizzare circumstances before the S14 starts, but this sets a new benchmark.
Agree with all of Brett and Sheek’s views and comments.
Damo said | December 7th 2009 @ 9:00am | Report comment
What Vincent and Harry said
ballboy said | December 7th 2009 @ 9:19am | Report comment
I agree with J4C – innocent until proven guilty, but if the charges are proven, drunk or not, he should never wear the Wallaby jumper again.
Hoy said | December 7th 2009 @ 9:29am | Report comment
This is really bizarre isn’t it?
By all accounts they were foreign students in the house, and coppers caught him there I understand.
This is pretty serious stuff isn’t it. Also very different, in that a burgulary is different to the usual assualts etc footballers of all persuasion seem to get caught up with.
Sad, but this will stick with him for a while. Hope this is a misunderstanding, but not too sure.
Hammer said | December 7th 2009 @ 9:32am | Report comment
How long before he starts getting reffered to as NZ born ?
Dumb – but todays footballers aren’t blessed with brains or commonsense
Ora said | December 7th 2009 @ 2:01pm | Report comment
Hammer get it right it will be NZ born and raised and of maori decent…….Quade Cooper was arressted for burglary
katzilla said | December 7th 2009 @ 5:40pm | Report comment
Already happened Hammer, first story I read this morning was NZ born……….
Very much the same as when Crowe threw that phone in NYC.