Melbourne Pair Jailed For Attending AFL Grand Final In WA

Two hardcore Melbourne Demon fans from Melbourne have received jail time for sneaking into Western Australia for the AFL Grand Final. 

Restaurant owner Hayden Burbank, 49, and Financial planner Mark Babbage, 39 will spend Christmas behind bars in Perth for creating fake documents they used to get into Western Australia so they could join another 61,000 attendees of the major sporting event. 

Their jail terms will last for at least 3 months with the remaining 7 months of their 10-month sentences suspended. Burbank is now at risk of losing his liquor license. 

Both men appeared via video link Hakea Prison, pleading guilty to three counts of failing to abide by the direction under WA’s Emergency Management Act and one count of fraud after they submitted false information on their G2G border applications to grant them permission to board a flight from Darwin travelling to Perth on September 22. 

Police said the men created fake NT driver’s license and vehicle registration in their applications to enter WA, so it would appear they were from the Northern Territory.

Whilst there are no border restrictions between WA and the NT, anyone who has recently been to Victoria is banned from entering WA.

Despite their lawyers best efforts, Magistrate Matthew Holgate said their decision to expose themselves to 61,000 people at a sporting event was “too serious to be wholly suspended.” Holgate sentenced the men to immediate imprisonment. 

They are also facing charges in the Northern Territory. 

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