A former professional soccer player will spend at least eight months behind bars after he let his flatmate hide a severely injured woman at their Brisbane home.

December 3, 2020

A former professional soccer player who let his flatmate hide a woman on the brink of death at their Brisbane home after she was raped and tortured will spend at least eight months behind bars.

Paramedics initially thought the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was dead when they found her in a semi-conscious state in the men’s Bulimba unit in early July 2017.

She’d endured three weeks of drug-induced “severe physical, psychological and sadistic violence” at the hands of Nicholas John Crilley, who has since been handed seven life sentences for his actions.

Former Brisbane Strikers and Olympic Sharks player Jeromy Lee Harris, 45, isn’t accused of taking part in the brutal attack, which included Crilley sexually assaulting his former girlfriend on an almost daily basis, setting her on fire and forcing her to eat her own faeces.

He pleaded guilty in the Brisbane District Court to accessory after the fact to grievous bodily harm for helping Crilley over a four-day period after the woman was “horrifically” injured.

Harris, a drug addict, knew the woman had been seriously injured and that Crilley had threatened to end her life but failed to call police or paramedics, Judge Leanne Clare said on Thursday.

“By the night of the first of July you had seen a photo (of one of the woman’s wounds) which still haunts you,” she said.

“That evening you had also smelt (her) rotting flesh. It was so bad you had to leave the house.

“You knew her condition was dire and your immediate response was to leave (her) there in the house with Crilley.”

Later, Harris realised Crilley was considering murdering the woman, who was 22 at the time, because “she was too far gone”.

He frantically messaged a veterinary nurse and a drug associate who was a deregistered doctor for advice in a bid to get her help.

He also purchased medication for the woman and pressed Crilley to get her into care.

“But at the end of the day, you still left the decision to get qualified treatment up to the assailant,” Judge Clare said.

“Your concern for (the woman) had been outweighed by your concern for yourself.

“You put yourself and the perpetrator above the urgent need of a grievously injured woman even when her life was in the balance.

“It was cowardly and weak and you must live with the knowledge that you did not rescue this woman.”

Crilley eventually called triple-zero before fleeing the unit.

He was taken into custody eight days later following a dramatic police chase involving several stolen cars.

Paramedics found the woman “on the brink of death”.

She was placed in an induced coma and spent eight weeks in hospital recovering, which included learning to walk again.

“The selfish mindset of your own interests and drug use came before my life,” the woman said in a victim impact statement read to the court.

“It wasn’t a secret what was going on and it makes me terrified that there are other people out there that could be as bad as you.”

Harris was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. He will be eligible for parole in eight months.