Former AFL player Ryan Crowley set to face 17 domestic violence charges in a criminal trial after allegedly attacking his MAFS star ex-girlfriend Lauren Dunn ‘to the point of almost killing her’

By KINTA WALSH-COTTON, SHOWBUSINESS REPORTER, AUSTRALIA 01:44 22 Oct 2026, updated 02:03 22 Oct 2026

Former Fremantle Dockers player Ryan Crowley is set to face 17 domestic violence charges next year, most of which relate to alleged attacks on his ex-girlfriend, Married At First Sight star Lauren Dunn.

The former AFL midfielder, 42, was seen arriving at Perth Magistrates Court on Wednesday to face four new charges, related to assault and strangulation, in addition to 13 he pleaded not guilty to earlier this year.

Crowley pleaded not guilty to one count of aggravated common assault and three counts of ‘impeding another person’s normal breathing or blood circulation by applying pressure to the neck’.

The four new charges ‘have been remanded to the same dates as the trial that was already listed on March 2, 2027’, a court spokesperson revealed to the Daily Mail.

Crowley’s $80,000 bail, which includes a $40,000 personal undertaking and $40,000 surety, has also been extended.

The 17 charges include aggravated assault, strangulation, assault occasioning bodily harm, threatening, endangering and ‘being armed or pretending to be armed’.

Six of the domestic violence charges were made in July last year, with prosecutors alleging in court that Crowley attacked Dunn, 35, ‘to the point of almost killing her’.

The historical charges are alleged to have taken place between 2019 and 2020.

Crowley was charged with one count of unlawful assault and one count of threatening to kill.

Those charges are alleged to have occurred in September 2019.

He is also facing one count of unlawful assault, one count of intention to harm, a count of deprivation of liberty and another count of deprivation of liberty in circumstances of aggravation. Those charges allegedly took place in March 2020.

Five of the six alleged offences were committed against Dunn. The final charge relates to the alleged abuse of a separate woman.

It was the second time in the space of two months that the former AFL player had appeared in court over DV charges.

Crowley had been granted bail in May 2025 after appearing in Perth Magistrates Court for nine separate DV allegations, which relate to an alleged incident involving Dunn that year.

In relation to the historical charges, the court heard last year that Crowley and Dunn were in a relationship between 2018 and 2023.

It was described as ‘toxic’ and ‘highly volatile’.

Dunn has since left Western Australia to live in New South Wales but is understood to return to WA regularly for work.

The police prosecutor told the Perth court that one witness had allegedly seen Crowley assault Dunn in 2020 ‘to the point of almost killing her’. The witness had ‘expressed their concerns’ as a result.

The prosecutor said: ‘The accused has shown a propensity for violence.’

They added that Dunn had received messages from Crowley’s friends, telling the former reality star that they had seen videos of her that had allegedly shown her in a ‘compromising’ situation.

The court also heard how Dunn had allegedly received messages from social media users, who had accused her of being a ‘liar’ and a ‘psycho’.

Crowley’s legal counsel confirmed he will plead not guilty to all of the charges.

However, Magistrate Langdon told the court that should he be found guilty of all the charges he would be facing an immediate prison sentence.

‘If you were convicted, you would be looking at an immediate custodial term,’ Magistrate Langdon said at the time.

The Magistrate also granted Crowley bail, despite opposition from prosecutors. Bail was granted subject to several conditions. One of those included a $40,000 surety.

His lawyers argued that there was ‘zero basis’ Crowley wouldn’t comply with his bail conditions, arguing that his type 1 diabetes would ‘be difficult to maintain in custody’.

Defence lawyers for Crowley explained: ‘He already suffered low blood sugar overnight… [the prison officers] only gave him an apple.’

The conditions required Crowley to surrender his passport, report to Northbridge Police Station twice a week, not go within 200m of Dunn and remain in WA.

Dunn and Crowley split in 2023 after five years together.

Crowley retired from professional football in 2016, having played for Fremantle and Essendon.

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