Ex-league star facing charges

Former policewoman Karis Charnley

Thefts of Champagne and assault on former policewoman alleged.

A former Kiwis rugby league star has been arrested for allegedly assaulting an ex-policewoman who resigned in a scandal.

Phil Bancroft, who represented New Zealand in 1989, faces a charge of intentionally injuring former policewoman Karis Charnley.

He is also accused of stealing Champagne from a Browns Bay supermarket. In a third charge, police allege Bancroft, also known as William, shoplifted a case of Champagne from a Mairangi Bay store.

Charnley has told the Herald on Sunday Bancroft was a friend and they had met after her public fall from grace.

Charnley said they hadn't spoken since last January, when the alleged assault happened.

She did not plan to attend his next hearing at the North Shore District Court.

Charnley said it had been "a rough two years" since she was accused of letting her ex-boyfriend Cameron Ross use a police officer's uniform.

Charnley quit the police in May 2012 and was charged with being a party to theft and assault. She was acquitted in November that year, though Judge Brian Callaghan said he was "suspicious" of her.

At that time a court heard Ross and Charnley had bonded over shared interests in the Illuminati and apocalypse before the relationship turned sour.

Before those disastrous events, Charnley had featured in a TV show about police recruits.

Asked if she'd rejoin the police one day, she said: "Who knows?"

Bancroft played for Christchurch's Halswell Hornets, Auckland, and a Central Invitation team against Australia.

The 1985 Rugby League Annual called him a talented scrumhalf and stand-off who was among the country's most promising players.

Bancroft could not be reached for comment. His next scheduled court appearance is a case review in April.