Footy star's drugs and crime past revealed as he learns his fate after being convicted of shocking robbery of 65-year-old woman

A one-time promising AFL star whose move to Melbourne led him to develop a daily meth habit is back behind bars after being convicted of the brutal robbery of an elderly woman in her home.

Once touted as one of the best young players to come out of Western Australia, Dayle Garlett was picked up by the Hawthorn Hawks as a 19-year-old in the 2013 national draft.

Garlett quit the club a few months later without playing a senior game, saying he was struggling to cope with the overwhelming demands of the AFL.

He returned to his home state Western Australia, where his former WAFL club Swan Districts voted not to take him back, saying it was 'concerned for the welfare of the troubled former Hawthorn draftee'.

A short while later, Garlett was taken into custody on charges of burglary and receiving stolen goods.

Garlett told a psychiatrist that the isolation from family and familiar surroundings after his move to Melbourne had led him to begin taking drugs and socialise with criminals.

He soon developed a shocking meth habit, which prompted him to walk away from the sport he loved.

After returning to WA, Garlett spent all his money on his daily drug habit and turned to crime.

Garlett was jailed for more than four years for a string of offences and was released in 2019.

He was jailed again that year after admitting to more burglaries.

Now the former footy star has been imprisoned again for more than three years for his most distressing crime to date. 

On the morning of September 6, 2022, Garlett entered the backyard of a 65-year-old woman in Beechboro, in Perth's north-west.

The woman opened her door to investigate noises she had heard and was overpowered by Garlett who hurled her to the ground.

He stole her handbag and keys, but left a jacket that police used to later identify him.

Garlett was arrested several weeks later while experiencing a drug overdose and has been in custody ever since.

Earlier this month, he pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery and stealing at Perth's District Court. 

'It was fortunate that she did not suffer a more serious injury. Although there is no victim impact statement, I readily accept that the incident must have been terrifying for her,' Judge Genevieve Cleary said.

'I am told that at 16 you commenced drinking alcohol and took some other drugs. By 17 you were taking cocaine. And then by 17 or 18 you were taking methamphetamine, which is no doubt what occurred at the Hawthorn Football Club that ruined your career there.

'Putting all of that together, given your criminal history, your escalation in offending and your entrenched drug use, you are at a high risk of reoffending if you don't tackle your drug use.'

Garlett was jailed for three years and five months and will be eligibile for parole in September this year.