Former Australian Football League star Nicky Winmar has been found guilty of dragging a woman by her hair and smashing her head against a door. A magistrate convicted the 60-year-old on three charges, including two counts of common assault and one count of unlawful assault, after finding the woman's account of the May 14, 2025, incident in Cohuna, northern Victoria, to be truthful.
The woman alleged that Winmar became enraged and attacked her, grabbing her arm, twisting it, dragging her by the hair, pushing her against a wall, spitting in her face, and repeatedly bashing her head against a wooden door. Winmar admitted to slapping the woman's arm but denied any punches or causing her to fall, claiming instead that she had punched him.
Magistrate Trieu Huynh described the woman as a credible and truthful witness. However, Winmar was acquitted of a fourth charge of intentionally causing injury, as the magistrate determined the woman's pain did not meet the threshold for that specific charge.
Winmar, who played 230 games for St Kilda and 21 for the Western Bulldogs, becoming the first Aboriginal footballer to reach 200 AFL games, dropped his head in court upon hearing the verdict. A pre-sentence hearing is scheduled for a later date.
Winmar has a history of confronting racism, notably in 1993 when he lifted his jumper and pointed to his skin in response to abuse from a Collingwood crowd. He is also involved in a class-action lawsuit against the AFL concerning racism.
