A lower-level Wests Tigers player was the driver during an armed robbery in which a gun was allegedly discharged and one of the victims was told their friend had been slain.
Iverson Fuatimau, a Western Suburbs winger who trained with the Tigers’ first-team squad during the summer of 2022 after being awarded a train-and-trial contract, now faces prison time after pleading guilty to aggravated break and enter and robbery in company. The 23-year-old will be punished next week at Campbelltown District Court.
Fuatimau drove two other men, who have been charged over the home invasion at St Helens Park, in a maroon Haval H2, in May, 2022.
According to the statement of agreed facts in relation to the proceedings against Fuatimau, obtained by this masthead, the two men jumped the back fence of the residence while Fuatimau remained in the car on lookout. One of the occupants, who was home at the time, noticed the men outside and convinced two of his friends to come over.
It is alleged the two men broke into the house, one of them brandishing a silver pistol, with only the occupant able to escape. While Fuatimau waited in the car, the men allegedly threatened the lives of the occupants’ friends. It’s alleged both victims had their pockets emptied and were tied up in separate rooms of the house.
Police say the two men demanded to know where “papers” and other valuables were kept, despite both stating they didn’t live there and or know where they were.
It is further alleged one of the men brandished a knife, the other a gun. The one with the gun allegedly held it against the temple of the victim in the lounge room “three or four times and threatened to shoot [him] in the head and put a hole in him.”
The man with the gun then allegedly then went back over to the victim in the ensuite and put it to the other victim’s head, cocked the pistol twice and removed two of the bullets. Police allege one of the bullets landed in the shower, the gunman picked up the other one and said “there was one bullet going through each of your heads if you don’t tell me what I wanted”.
He then allegedly reloaded the bullet, closed the door to the ensuite, went into the walk-in wardrobe of the main bedroom and then fired the pistol into the wall, just missing one of the victim’s heads.
It’s alleged the man told the victim in the ensuite: “I’ve just put a bullet through [your friend’s] head. You’re next.”
It’s further alleged the man continued to threaten the victim as he and the other man ransacked the house. Police say the other man then said, “We have to put holes in them both now and finish them because they saw our faces.”
Police say the men eventually left after stealing two handbags, old mobile phones, an iPad, jewellery, a bottle of perfume and a box of Christmas lights, but not before threatening another of the occupants’ friends, who arrived on the scene after heeding the SOS call.
This prompted Fuatimau to yell to them, “Let’s go, let’s get out of here.”
Police say they instead stole the car of one of the men who was held at gunpoint in the house. When the police eventually pulled them over, it’s alleged one of the two men claimed he was the “victim” of a kidnapping.
When the allegedly stolen car was searched, police say they found a silver .38 super automatic calibre Strayer Voigt pistol with a spent cartridge in the chamber, and a black Glock-style Gel Blaster pistol. Police also arrested Fuatimau, who was driving in the Haval. It is not alleged by the Crown that Fuatimau was aware of the presence or use of weapons during the incident.
Fuatimau, who had three appearances for the Magpies in 2022, was expected to make his NRL debut before the incident. Tigers winger David Nofoaluma commented about Fuatimau’s impact during the preseason in February of that year.
“We also have a young kid called Iverson Fuatimau, who has had a few training sessions playing on my inside and doing a good job,” Nofoaluma said while discussing outside back alternatives with News Corp.
Fuatimau is no longer under contract with the Tigers. The Tigers did not respond to requests for comment. Fuatimau hired prominent lawyer Elias Tabchouri to represent him. Tabchouri did not respond.
