Violence charges against two AFL premiership players have been dropped by prosecutors who will now pay the pair’s legal costs.

Richmond midfielder Dion Prestia and recently retired Melbourne defender Steven May were charged late last year after an alleged brawl in the coastal town of Sorrento in December 2024.

Police had alleged the pair were involved in a streetside fight between “two competing groups” in the early hours of December 27 that led to two men being taken to hospital.

Mr Prestia was charged with recklessly causing serious injury, intentionally causing injury and affray while Mr May was charged with affray.

Both men had repeatedly said they were not involved in the incident.

The pair appeared in the Frankston Magistrates Court on Friday morning as prosecutor Alex Turner announced police would be withdrawing all the charges.

Mr Prestia and Mr May, who were on a video link, both replied; “Thank you”, when told the charges had been struck out.

Defence lawyer Tony Hargreaves, who represented the pair, then applied for their legal costs to be paid by police – a move Mr Turner did not dispute.

Costs, to be worked out at a later date, were granted for the pair.

The withdrawal of charges comes after an earlier court hearing on May 30, where magistrate Tony Burns was told police were interviewing new witnesses.

At the time, the court was told the case was put on a “word on word basis” with some witnesses saying the two men were allegedly involved and others saying they weren’t.

Mr Prestia is a three-time premiership player with Richmond and started his AFL career at the same time as Mr May at the Gold Coast Suns in 2011.

Mr May played eight seasons with the Suns, serving as co-captain for two, before moving to Melbourne for the 2019 season where he retired in March.