A British footballer is set to be ‘deported from Australia’ after a petition was set up by two women calling for the 34-year-old to be kicked out of the country, alleging that he subjected them to intimate partner abuse.
Sarah Fardy and Cara Greedy had established a Change.org petition titled ‘Safeguard Australian Women from Jay Hart (Violent Visa Holder)’.
In it, the two Melbourne women claimed they had suffered alleged abuse by former English football star Jay Hart and wanted to help protect other women by changing immigration laws.
Hart, a forward who played football for Blackburn Rovers Academy and was born in Lancashire, is now understood to have been escorted by Australian Border Force officials to a detention centre and is due to be deported.
It came after Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke personally intervened in the situation, with the Minister calling Ms Fardy and inform her of the news in an emotional phone conversation.
Ms Fardy published a video of the call to Instagram story, with the footage showing Burke telling her that he had reviewed a file to consider the visa status of Mr Hart.
British footballer Jay Hart (right) is set to be deported from Australia after Sarah Fardy (pictured with Hart) and Cara Greedy set up a petition calling for the 34-year-old to be kicked out of the country
The petition was started after Fardy and Greedy accused the 34-year-old footballer (pictured) of intimate partner abuse
Ms Fardy (pictured) published a video of her emotional phone conversation with Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke, who told her Hart will be deported
The footballer is understood to have been residing in Australia since 2020 on a student visa.
Burke told Fardy: ‘The file for me to consider the visa status arrived at the office yesterday. At 5.20pm yesterday, I cancelled his [Mr Hart’s] visa.
Fardy cut an emotional figure, raising her hands to cover her eyes as she began to cry upon hearing the news.
Burke then added: ‘And last night when I sent you the text message, that was to let you know that Border Force had arrived at his home to take him to detention.’
Daily Mail Australia contacted the Department of Home Affairs for comment, with a spokesman saying privacy reasons prevent them from making a statement.
In an update published on the Change.org petition, which has since gained 3788 signatures at the time of writing, Ms Fardy thanked those who stood in support of the appeal.
‘Today I can finally say it… We did it!’ she wrote. ‘Jay Hart has been taken into detention and is now awaiting deportation.
‘After months of hearing “no,” after countless doors [being] slammed in our faces, after being told time and time again to give up, we persisted. And last night we got the “YES” we all needed to hear.’
Mr Burke (pictured) told Fardy that he had ‘cancelled Mr Hart’s visa’ and that ‘Border Force had arrived at his home to take him to detention’
It is understood that Fardy (pictured) and Greedy, who both live in Melbourne, had applied for intervention orders against Mr Hart
In 2015, Mr Hart was sacked by his former club, Clitheroe FC, after a video emerged showing him having sex with an unknown woman in a manager’s dugout. He had been 24 at the time and was seen wearing the club’s official kit following a 4-1 defeat away to Mossley AFC.
Mr Hart’s former girlfriend – who is the mother of his two children – left him after seeing the video.
It is understood that Ms Fardy and Ms Greedy, who both live in Melbourne, had applied for intervention orders against Mr Hart, who had most recently been playing for Sydenham Park SC in Victoria.
Mr Hart had initially left the UK in 2019 and was signed to Thimphu City FC, who play in the Bhutan Premier League.
He would move to play in India for a brief period, before arriving in Australia in 2020. Mr Hart first played for Doncaster Rovers Soccer Club upon his arrival before play for Caroline Springs for two seasons from 2021 before joining Sydenham in 2023.
Mr Hart was released by Sydenham after Ms Fardy had made the club aware of his alleged behaviour, according to The Herald Sun.
Mr Hart arrived in Australia in 2020 and is understood to be residing in the country on a student visa after playing for a string of teams
In their petition, Ms Fardy and Ms Greedy also claimed that ‘at least three other women’ were subjected to Mr Hart’s alleged behaviour.
Ms Fardy and Ms Greedy wrote that they had appealed to Football Victoria, Sydenham Park and a number of other football clubs for Mr Hart’s dismissal as a paid player.
They had also written to the Australian Border Force, Minister Burke, Assistant Minister for Immigration Matt Thistlethwaite and Secretary of the Department of Home Affairs Stephanie Foster, asking for ‘a character review and visa cancellation’ based on the allegations against Mr Hart.
‘This petition calls for the immediate revision of immigration laws with strong consideration for the history of violence in visa holders,’ Ms Fardy told News Corp.
Football Victoria is understood to have torn up Mr Hart’s registration following the accusations.
‘To those who supported this petition, who stood with Cara and I, and with every woman who’s been harmed by this man, thank you,’ Ms Fardy added in her updated statement on Change.org
‘Your voices mattered. Your signatures, your messages, your belief in us… they mattered.
Mr Hart had initially left the UK in 2019 and was signed to Thimphu City FC, who play in the Bhutan Premier League
Football Victoria is understood to have torn up Mr Hart’s registration following the accusations
Fardy and Greedy say they will continue to advocate for increased awareness around domestic violence as well as a change to laws on immigration.
During lockdown in Melbourne, the English footballer was bizarrely seen riding around Melbourne on his bike with a parrot called Pablo on his handlebars.
Daily Mail Australia had seen the pair riding along St Kilda beach in 2021 and had asked Mr Hart for a quick interview.
Hart told this outlet he had taken the bird under his wing, after getting him checked over by a vet and wildlife rescue worker.
‘I found him last Friday injured, so I picked him up and took him home and I fixed him up, bathed him in salt water and fed him nectar mix and fruit,’ he said.
‘He sits on my shoulder, he sits on my bike, he sits on everyone who comes along. He’s been to the pub a few times too.’
Mr Hart, who hails from Lancashire in England, revealed he had hoped to stay in Australia during the pandemic.
‘I’m hoping to stay here for good. I got here a year ago… not too long before the first lockdown – and I just stuck it out,’ Hart said.
If you or anyone you know is suffering from domestic abuse or violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732, text 0458 737 732, chat online or video call via 1800RESPECT’s website.
