Former AFL star Majak Daw could be jailed after revealing he will not fight a driving charge in court later this year. The 32-year-old appeared at Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday, where he was charged with a single count of driving while suspended in December last year.
He was fined $1,200 after pleading guilty but avoided a conviction. Majak Daw could face jail after deciding to play guilty to a driving offence. But, according to the Herald Sun, the former ruckman was subsequently stopped by officers again while driving with a suspended licence.
The former North Melbourne star had his licence suspended for three months in September 2021 after accumulating too many demerit points. Daw had already appeared in court last June, after being stopped on Melbourne’s trendy Chapel Street driving his unregistered Ford Territory while unlicensed in the early hours of November 19 of the previous year.
Daw was intercepted on December 16, driving in St Kilda East at approximately 7:30pm. While charges were not laid until October, Daw now faces a higher penalty given it’s his second offence. In June, Marquis told the court the former AFL star did not know he was driving while suspended. Mr Marquis said Daw was desperate to retain his licence so that he could continue training and have access to his child.
He could have his licence cancelled and receive much heftier fine than the one he copped last year. The magistrate could also sentence him to two years imprisonment. Defence lawyer John Marquis, who represented Daw last year, told the court his client would be pleading guilty at the next hearing in May.
He described the violation as an ‘innocent mistake’ due to the fact Daw had failed to inform VicRoads that he had moved in with his cousin eight months before being stopped and therefore had missed the notices. ‘This matter has been reported in the press so whenever you’re a public figure there’s that double punishment to a large extent. There’s the embarrassment of the reporting in addition he’s a role model to the community.’
The court was provided glowing reports on Daw from the author of his book Heath O’Loughlin, general manager of Melbourne Alan Richardson, former Kangaroo Cameron McLeod, and his first ever footy coach. ‘As you can see they’re quite impressive references,’ Mr Marquis said during the hearing last year.
He survived the impact with the water 25m below, but his injuries were severe. But after more than 700 days after the bridge plunge, Daw made his AFL return on August 1, 2020 with the Kangaroos, who delisted him at the end of that year after 54 appearances for the club.
The Sudan-born player retired from the AFL a week after appearing in court, without playing an AFL game for Melbourne after spending a season with the Demons in the VFL.In December of 2018 Daw tried to take his life by jumping off Melbourne’s Bolte Bridge.
