October 24, 2017
"Yep, you got me."
That's what former international cricket umpire Darrell Hair told his managers at a bottle shop when they confronted him about stealing money from the till.
In the grip of gambling addiction, Hair was working at D'Aquino's Liquor in Orange, in central west NSW, nine years after ending his long and colourful career as an umpire.
In what the magistrate called a "monumental fall from grace", Hair stole $9005.75 between February 25 and April 28 this year.
He was fired from the shop in May when his bosses found CCTV footage of him taking money from the cash register and putting it in his pants pocket.
The 65-year-old, famed for no-balling Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan for throwing in a Boxing Day Test, pleaded guilty to one charge of embezzlement and one charge of stealing in Orange Local Court on Monday morning.
A fact sheet tendered to court said Hair would regularly make unauthorised refunds and pocket the cash, or take the money directly from customer
"[Hair] stated that he had no excuse for his dishonesty and he had let his gambling get too far out of control during the early months of 2017 and failed to react to the signs that it was out of control," the document said.
He made full admissions when interviewed by police.
"My client has been in the public eye for many years and this is a bit of a fall for him, to find himself before the court in these circumstances," Hair's solicitor Andrew Rolfe said.
"This is an aberration in the life of a man who, prior to this, had a lifetime of service to the community and to a sport that he loved."
Magistrate Michael Allen said Hair's actions were a breach of trust, but noted Hair had repaid the stolen money, written letters of apology, and was in counselling for depression and addiction.
Allen sentenced Hair to an 18-month good behaviour bond, and did not record a conviction, stressing the law treats everyone the same way, regardless of public standing or privilege.
"There are some in our community, in particular on commercial radio, who speak with loud voices for justice to be stern and unrelenting," Allen said.
"But that would undermine what it sets out to achieve."
Allen said gambling ads were everywhere, and gambling addiction was "no less real than an addiction to drugs ... or alcohol".
"It's a journey he will live with, and no doubt struggle with, on a daily basis for the rest of his life."
Hair was at the centre of one of cricket's most notorious moments when he repeatedly no-balled Muralitharan during the Boxing Day Test between Australia and Sri Lanka at the MCG in 1995.
Muralitharan had his action cleared the following May, and then again in 1999, and went on to become one of the most famous bowlers in Test history.
Hair was also one of the umpires who decided to penalise Pakistan for suspected ball tampering on the fourth day of the fourth Test against England in 2006. (Sydney Morning Herald)
» CCS.N0000 ( Ceylon Cold Stores)
» Sri Lanka plans to allow tourists from August, no mandatory quarantine
» When Will It Be Safe To Invest In The Stock Market Again?
» Dividend Announcements
» MAINTENANCE NOTICE / නඩත්තු දැනුම්දීම
» ඩොලර් මිලියනයක මුදල් සම්මානයක් සහ “ෆීල්ඩ්ස් පදක්කම” පිළිගැනීම ප්රතික්ෂේප කළ ගණිතඥයා
» SEYB.N0000 (Seylan Bank PLC)
» Here's what blind prophet Baba Vanga predicted for 2016 and beyond: It's not good
» The Korean Way !
» In the Meantime Within Our Shores!
» What is Known as Dementia?
» SRI LANKA TELECOM PLC (SLTL.N0000)
» THE LANKA HOSPITALS CORPORATION PLC (LHCL.N0000)
» Equinox ( වසන්ත විෂුවය ) !
» COMB.N0000 (Commercial Bank of Ceylon PLC)
» REXP.N0000 (Richard Pieris Exports PLC)
» RICH.N0000 (Richard Pieris and Company PLC)
» Do You Have Computer Vision Syndrome?
» LAXAPANA BATTERIES PLC (LITE.N0000)
» What a Bank Run ?
» 104 Technical trading experiments by HUNTER
» GLAS.N0000 (Piramal Glass Ceylon PLC)
» Cboe Volatility Index
» AHPL.N0000
» TJL.N0000 (Tee Jey Lanka PLC.)
» CTBL.N0000 ( CEYLON TEA BROKERS PLC)
» COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT COMPANY PLC (COMD. N.0000))
» Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency
» CSD.N0000 (Seylan Developments PLC)
» PLC.N0000 (People's Leasing and Finance PLC)
» Bakery Products ?
» NTB.N0000 (Nations Trust Bank PLC)
» Going South
» When Seagulls Follow the Trawler
» Re-activating
» අපි තමයි හොඳටම කරේ !
» මේ අර් බුධය කිසිසේත්ම මා විසින් නිර්මාණය කල එකක් නොවේ
» SAMP.N0000 (Sampath Bank PLC)
» APLA.N0000 (ACL Plastics PLC)
» AVOID FALLING INTO ALLURING WEEKEND FAMILY PACKAGES.
» Banks, Finance & Insurance Sector Chart
» VPEL.N0000 (Vallibel Power Erathna PLC)
» DEADLY COCKTAIL OF ISLAND MENTALITY AND PARANOID PERSONALITY DISORDER MIX.
» WATA - Watawala
» KFP.N0000(Keels Food Products PLC)
» Capital Trust Broker in difficulty?
» IS PIRATING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY A BOON OR BANE?
» What Industry Would You Choose to Focus?
» Should I Stick Around, or Should I Follow Others' Lead?