Former AFL player Nick Stevens has been jailed for eight months for bashing and threatening to kill his ex-girlfriend, but is now free on bail pending an appeal.

Stevens, 35, was in January found guilty of 12 charges arising from the abuse of the woman he was in a relationship with in 2012 and 2013.

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The charges effectively ended any hopes the former Carlton and Port Adelaide player had of an AFL coaching career, the court heard earlier this month.

Magistrate Nunzio La Rosa said Stevens had shown no remorse for the sustained violence against the victim, and general deterrence was important in matters of domestic violence.

Stevens also pleaded guilty to breaching an intervention order by sending about 2500 text messages to the victim in 2013.

Mr La Rosa said many of these messages were the mundane sort that usually occur between a couple in a relationship, but others gave insight in Stevens’ psychological state.

“It became evidence that you would not hesitate to manipulate the victim both psychologically and emotionally,” Mr La Rosa said.

After the police laid charges against Stevens, he called the victim twice and threatened her.

Mr La Rosa ordered Stevens to serve a community corrections order of 12 months and fined him $400.

A few hours after the sentence, the former Carlton star’s lawyers lodged an appeal against the conviction and negotiated his release until the appeal.