A criminal case against two AFL champions charged over a wild brawl outside a pub will boil down to differing witness accounts.
Richmond midfielder Dion Prestia, 33, and Melbourne premiership player Steven May, 34, have been charged with criminal offences over a Boxing Day fight at a Victorian coastal town.
Both have denied any involvement.
Two groups were involved in an altercation in Sorrento about 2am on December 27, 2024, and two men were taken to hospital with injuries, police previously said.
Prestia, a three-time premiership player with Richmond who collected 16 disposals in a 10-goal loss to Fremantle on Saturday, has been charged on summons with recklessly causing serious injury, intentionally causing injury and affray.
May, who announced his sudden retirement from the AFL earlier in March despite being contracted until the end of 2026, has been charged on summons with affray.
Dion Prestia (pictured with partner Brooke Bailey) is facing criminal charges over an incident on Boxing Day in 2024
Steven May (pictured with Sachi Dade at the Brownlow Medal count) has also been charged over the alleged brawl at a hotel in Sorrento
Both May and Prestia (pictured with Bailey) have steadfastly denied any involvement in the alleged brawl
Prosecutors told Frankston Magistrates Court on Monday two potential suspects had been interviewed since January.
‘A record of interview was done last Monday, with a party involved in the proceedings,’ prosecutor Alex Turner said, as he asked for the matter to be adjourned to May.
‘There are two further parties that the informant is attempting to locate, and I’m unsure whether it’s to obtain a statement or interview, those inquiries are ongoing.’
Magistrate Tony Burns asked whether that meant police had interviewed other suspects, to which the prosecutor agreed.
‘Yes, they’re on tape,’ Mr Turner said.
The prosecutor confirmed there was no video of the altercation and investigators were relying on word-of-mouth evidence from ‘two competing groups’.
‘It’s a situation where largely this case is put on a word-on-word basis,’ he said.
‘We’ve got a certain number of witnesses that say that the accused persons were involved.
‘We’ve got a number of persons who say that the accused persons weren’t involved.’
Mr Turner said police needed time to speak to more witnesses to get their version of events.
If they aligned with interviews of other suspects, ‘that will likely tie the prosecution’s hands’, he added.
‘My instructions are that those witnesses would give that evidence in the witness box,’ Mr Turner said.
‘Ultimately we’re asking for one further adjournment for those inquiries to be made.’
The two footballers faced the court online as their lawyer Tony Hargreaves said both Prestia and May had ‘at all times’ denied any involvement in the matter.
‘We have continued to provide information to the police to demonstrate that is the situation,’ he said.
‘It’s as a result of that information that these inquiries are ongoing.’
There were ‘a number of witnesses’ who said Prestia and May were not involved, Mr Hargreaves said.
It was in his clients’ best interests to agree to the adjournment so police could complete their investigations, he added.
The magistrate adjourned the matter to May 8 and told May and Prestia to keep in contact with their lawyer.
