Drama unfolds as judge bans 'aggressive' Neighbours star from her ex's mansion
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Content Warning: This article mentions assault and violence. Reader discretion is advised.
The explosive case between Neighbours star Madeleine West and her celebrity chef ex-partner Shannon Bennett has hit a new level of drama.
Madeleine West was slapped with a two-year Apprehended Violence Order (AVO) by a Magistrate who delivered a scathing judgement of the former model's behaviour. This came after a confrontation occurred between the star and Shannon Bennett's 75-year-old father, Benny Clifton Bennett.
You might be wondering where you remember her from. Ms West joined the cast of Neighbours as Dee Bliss in 1999, a role that earned her a Logie Award nomination for ‘Most Popular New Female Talent’ two years after joining the show. Later, she played Andrea Somers, a conniving character who came to Erinsborough pretending to be Dee Bliss.
She left the soap opera in March 2003 after her contract expired. After that, she appeared in the crime drama Underbelly as Danielle McGuire, and in 2011 she joined the cast of Winners & Losers as Deidre Gross.
Madeleine West was charged with a two-year AVO due to a confrontation with Benny Clifton Bennett. Credit: Shutterstock
According to NSW police, an AVO is granted to victims of physical assault and harassment who have ‘a reasonable fear to believe that (the) behaviour will continue’. This will make it harder for Ms West to see her children, as one of the stipulations of an AVO is that the defendant will ‘not be allowed within a certain distance from the protected person/s residence, work or school’.
The actress immediately appealed against the AVO just days after Magistrate Karen Stafford called her an ‘evasive’ and ‘unreliable’ witness. The magistrate further described Ms West’s behaviour and treatment of her ex-father-in-law (who is 75 years old as of writing) as ‘verging on being aggressive’.
Magistrate Stafford enforced the AVO for two years starting Tuesday, March 28, preventing the star from approaching Benny Bennett or Shannon Bennett’s Byron Bay estate whenever his father is there.
Ms West and Shannon Bennett had a 13-year relationship, sharing children now aged between nine and 17 years old before they split in 2018. Shannon has full custody of their six children.
This incident comes after reports of a confrontation happened between the pair last May.
The Magistrate stated: ‘I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that Benny Bennett has these fears, not of personal violence…but of conduct amounting to intimidation, including harassment or molestation, disturbance, pestering or repeated troubling and he feels this will occur if he is staying with the children.’
‘I am satisfied he fears, if visiting his grandchildren, he will be harassed by (Madeleine West)’, the magistrate added.
Ms West was found to have ‘barged her way in’ to Shannon’s home while he was away, and only Mr Bennett was home. The entire incident was caught on CCTV.
Ms West was accused of being ‘aggressive’ towards her ex-father-in-law. Credit: Nothing Ahead/Pexels
Ms West was not charged and denied accusations that she pushed her ex-father-in-law before taking away her child. ‘I didn’t lay a hand on him,’ she stated.
Magistrate Stafford said the CCTV footage showed Ms West almost ‘dragging’ the child off the property.
‘It certainly appeared she had a grip on (the child’s wrist) and was almost dragging the child…off the property. In many of the scenes, (Mr Bennett's) head is bowed, shrugging his shoulders, almost in defensive resignation by this man she was not listening to.
The AVO will make it difficult for Ms West to visit her children. Image credit: The Seniors Discount Club
According to reports, as soon as the gate was opened, Ms West was ‘assertive almost aggressive’. It was reported that she forced up the path to the house followed by Benny Bennett, who looked ‘quite downcast’.
It was further reported that Ms West ‘grabbed’ and ‘almost forced’ the child (believed to be sick then) to follow her speedy pace down the path. ‘The child is almost stumbling to keep up with her,’ the magistrate said.
Benny Bennett is said to visit his grandchildren at Shannon’s home regularly. However, after the alleged altercation, the court heard that Mr Bennett would no longer make such visits.
He said: ‘I won’t do it any more. I'll just tell my son, at my age, it's very stressful.’ He also said he doesn’t want to put his grandchildren through worrying situations. ‘It affects them. I’ll only go up when Shannon is there,’ Mr Bennett added.
When asked about Ms West’s behaviour around the children, Mr Bennett stated that he ‘can’t put up’ with it. ‘I can’t be the meat in the middle.’
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