- Parramatta Eels star Kate Fallon saw assault charges dismissed
NRLW star Kate Fallon has been cleared of assaulting her teenage neighbour following a fight over food delivery.
Parramatta Eels centre Fallon, 22, faced Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court on Friday after pleading not guilty to assaulting the 17-year-old in July 2024.
The teenager claimed she was knocking on doors in a Chifley unit block in Sydney’s eastern suburbs in search of a missing $70 food delivery when Fallon attacked her.
‘I wasn’t right, I couldn’t even walk up the stairs, they had to carry me up the stairs,’ the youngster previously told the court.
But Fallon’s barrister Thomas Skinner argued the assault claims were not supported by evidence, pointing to the teen’s later testimony that she ran up the stairs.
The accounts provided by the 17-year-old and her sister were markedly different, he said, with the sister telling the court she saw the teen held against a wall by her throat.
NRLW star Kate Fallon has been cleared of assaulting her teenage neighbour following a fight over food delivery in July 2024
After Magistrate Lucas Swan dismissed the charges, the Parramatta Eels centre is free to return to the NRLW this year
After she was initially charged, Fallon was banned from playing under the NRL’s ‘no fault’ stand-down policy
The claim was not confirmed by the complainant, who had also identified only one altercation where her sister had suggested there were two, Mr Skinner noted.
He pushed for the charges to be dismissed, telling the court: ‘The allegation on its face is implausible.’
While the prosecutor argued the witnesses had not been deliberately untruthful, he conceded the court might not find the assault had been proven.
Magistrate Lucas Swan said he had difficulty accepting the teenager’s account given the inconsistencies and her evasive approach to simple questions.
‘I had serious questions about her reliability as a witness of truth,’ he said.
The complainant initially said she didn’t strike Fallon at all during the altercation but, when pressed, maintained she had acted in self-defence.
‘Clearly, there can be no confusion about a person punching an individual,’ Mr Swan said.
The demeanour of the teenager and her sister didn’t help, with the magistrate noting contempt of court proceedings had been raised after they left court without permission during the hearing.
He dismissed the charges against Fallon and declined to make an apprehended violence order.
Fallon, who was flanked by her family, did not comment as she left court.
She has remained on the roster with the Parramatta Eels since her arrest and the club has supported her throughout the court proceedings.
Tongan international Fallon was banned from playing under the NRL’s ‘no fault’ stand- down policy.
She played seven games in the 2024 season and is now poised to return to the NRLW.
