A court has heard how former AFL coach Mick Malthouse was stabbed in the chest with a screwdriver as he defended his family during an alleged attempted home invasion.
The West Coast and Collingwood great, 72, fought a trio of alleged intruders with a piece of weightlifting equipment while wearing his pyjamas.
Andrew Carroll, 50, Aysar Mashu, 38, and Joshua Di Cello, 36, were charged in relation to the alleged home invasion, which took place on September 4 last year.
Victoria Police detective Tyler Sherlock alleged Di Cello stole a key fob from a construction company that did cladding work on Malthouse’s apartment complex on September 1 last year.
The trio used an internal stairwell to try to break into Malthouse’s penthouse, Sherlock said.
‘Malthouse described hearing noises from the front door. Malthouse confronted Di Cello, Mashu and Carroll and observed them in possession of a jimmy bar, actively trying to break through the door,’ he told the court.
Former AFL coach Mick Malthouse (pictured on April 24) was stabbed in the chest with a screwdriver as he defended his family during an alleged home invasion last year, a court has been told
Malthouse said his wife Nanette (pictured together) was ‘doing it pretty hard’ after the alleged incident last September
‘Malthouse swung an exercise pole at them before they retreated to the basement.’
Malthouse, a three-time premiership-winning coach with West Coast and Collingwood, then chased the group as they allegedly tried to break open a door to get away.
‘Carroll raised a jimmy bar he was in possession of. Malthouse struck Carroll in the head with the exercise bar, causing Carroll to drop it,’ Sherlock said.
Malthouse was stabbed in the chest with a screwdriver by Mashu, the court heard.
The injuries were only minor and did not cause any organ damage.
After the confrontation with Malthouse, Carroll was seen on CCTV an hour later with ‘a significant welt under his left eye’, Sherlock alleged.
The court heard Malthouse told police: ‘I managed to crack one of them with the exercise bar. I whacked him twice.’
Police allege Di Cello worked with others to commit a series of property and car thefts between August and September 2025.
Victoria Police alleged Joshua Di Cello stole a key fob from a construction company that did cladding work on Malthouse’s apartment complex (pictured) on September 1
Mick Malthouse coached 718 AFL games and won three premierships
He allegedly stole from jewellery shops, offices and a Dandenong South property where he allegedly got away with $60,000 of boxed children’s toys, Sherlock said.
Speaking to News Corp last year, Malthouse recounted how he and his wife had been in bed, when the three men allegedly tried to break into his apartment.
‘There were three blokes on the other side [of his door] with a bit of weaponry,’ Malthouse said.
‘I was able to get through and force them down the stairs.
‘There was a fair bit of action. One tried to stab me [with a screwdriver] and only partially succeeded.
Di Cello, Mashu and Carroll are yet to enter a plea regarding the alleged break-in of Malthouse’s property.
Di Cello’s lawyer, Nadia Giogianni, said her client was pursuing bail to attend a drug rehabilitation centre.
She said the 36-year-old was a vulnerable person with an intellectual disability.
Sherlock argued it was in the community’s interests for Di Cello to stay in jail due to his long criminal history.
‘He’s a persistent, prolific thief,’ Sherlock said.
A magistrate denied Di Cello’s bail application.
Malthouse hit out at Melbourne’s crime rate after the ordeal.
‘I think people are just sick to death of it,’ he said. ‘We shouldn’t be subjected to this but it just seems to be more and more, unfortunately.
‘Police are under more and more pressure and we seem to have laws [that], to my mind, do not satisfy the public under any circumstances.’
Malthouse is regarded as one of the game’s best coaches after he took the Eagles to their first premierships in 1992 and 1994, then guided Collingwood to victory in the 2010 grand final.
His mark of 718 AFL games coached remains a record, and he played a total of 174 matches for St Kilda and Richmond from 1972 to 1983, winning the flag in 1980 with the Tigers.
