Police were pressured into dropping rape charges against St Kilda Saints star Stephen Milne in 2004, according to a former detective.
Former Sen-Det Scott Gladman, who led the investigation into the alleged rape, told Nine News that he received several threats from his colleagues over the case.
He also said that interview tapes were stolen and the alleged victim's statement was leaked to the club during the probe.
The investigation was launched when a woman told police she was raped by Milne at the home of teammate Leigh Montagna.
The probe lasted six weeks, before the then-Director of Public Prosecutions, Paul Coughlan QC, said it was impossible to convict Milne and dropped the case.
Mr Gladman told Nine News that he received several threatening calls from his colleagues while he ran the investigation.
"You better do the right thing. You better make sure that this is done properly," one of the callers allegedly said.
Mr Gladman said that he "couldn’t guarantee the integrity of the security of the office", and was forced to take evidence home with him to protect it.
"I couldn’t understand how something like that could become so big, and allowed to become so out of control," he said.
The detective said that he believes the case should have gone to court.
“Stephen Milne is an innocent person until he’s proven guilty in a court of law,” he said.
“However we never got that far because the carriage of justice, or the natural flow of justice was interrupted.”
He said telling the woman that the case would not go ahead was one of the worst experiences of his 17-year career.
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