- Kayleb Minirapa Milne pleaded guilty to assault
- He was with Melbourne and Cronulla in his playing days.
A judge has dismissed an alleged link between a former rugby league player’s sporting brain injury and his repeatedly punching and choking a woman until she was unconscious.
Kayleb Minirapa Milne, 25, pleaded guilty in the Brisbane District Court on Tuesday to three counts of asphyxiation and four counts of assault occasioning bodily harm.
Milne was signed to play for NRL clubs Melbourne and Cronulla in 2018 and 2019 respectively and was selected to play in the second-tier Queensland Cup.
Crown prosecutor Zachary Kaplan said Milne, as a tall, muscular man, had physically assaulted a much smaller woman several times in 2023, causing her eye bruising, unconsciousness and perforated eardrums.
Judge Michael Byrne was shown photographs of the girl’s injuries.
Kaplan said Milne had assaulted the young woman so severely that she jumped out of a moving car and got into a stranger’s vehicle to get help.
“The assaults, in public and private, did not stop until she contacted emergency services,” Kaplan said.
Kaplan read a statement from the woman to the court in which she said she had changed significantly from a happy, cheerful person to someone “hypervigilant” and isolated from family and friends.
Former Melbourne Storm and Cronulla NRL player Kayleb Milne (pictured outside the pitch) claimed he had a football-related brain injury while in charge.
Milne (pictured during his time with Storm) pleaded guilty to attacking a much smaller woman multiple times in 2023.
‘I didn’t want them to see the wounds on my face and body. “I felt a lot of shame and embarrassment,” he said.
The woman said she sincerely hoped Milne received genuine support “to protect himself and others.”
“I believe in the possibility of change and I do not want the criminal to be imprisoned,” the woman said.
Defense solicitor Martin Longhurst said Milne had been affected by domestic violence during his childhood and had sought treatment for suspected chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).
Longhurst said Milne’s large size at age 14 allowed him to play soccer against grown men in New Zealand, resulting in “a series of pretty brutal concussion injuries.”
Judge Byrne said there was insufficient evidence to prove Milne (pictured outside court) had the concussion-related brain disease CTE, which can only be diagnosed after death.
“It is becoming increasingly clear that in contact sports, concussion injuries can lead to impulsivity and overly aggressive behavior,” Mr Longhurst said.
Judge Byrne said there was insufficient evidence to prove Milne had CTE and that it had a causal link to his offending, but found he was remorseful.
“It’s a horrible understatement, but that was your conduct,” Judge Byrne said.
Judge Byrne said he faced a difficult decision because Milne had committed serious offences, but sending him back to prison could disrupt his rehabilitation.
Milne was sentenced to four years in prison, suspended immediately after the 155 days he has already spent in custody, with a three-year conditional release order.
Judge Byrne told Milne he should not expect another lenient sentence if he breached the conditions of his release.
As a New Zealand citizen, Milne is now eligible for deportation due to his convictions and sentence.