HE’S NOT A DRUG DEALER
MARK ‘Bomber’ Thompson has been slapped with a conviction after a magistrate found him guilty of possessing 44 times the trafficable amount of the drug MDA.
But the fallen former Cats coach had more serious trafficking charges dismissed yesterday.
Thompson was placed on a 12-month community corrections order and fined $3500.
Magistrate Duncan Reynolds said he had taken into account the footy champ’s lack of criminal history and said he had considered the fact Thompson had up until recently led a “very public life”.
FALLEN footy legend Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson is determined to turn his life around after being convicted of possessing almost 500 ecstasy pills, ice and LSD.
The premiership coach and player was yesterday sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order and fined $3500 after a magistrate found him guilty of four counts of drug possession.
Thompson, 55, had hoped to escape conviction after multiple drug trafficking charges were earlier dismissed in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.
But Magistrate Duncan Reynolds said the sheer quantity of drugs found in his Port Melbourne home — including 44 times the trafficable quantity of MDA — warranted the penalty.
The conviction dents plans for Thompson to travel to the US or coach kids in the future.
But his legal team said in court Bomber was now involved in new business ventures, including building furniture from recycled materials, importing motorised e-cycles and the production of hydrogen inhalers.
In dismissing the trafficking offences, Mr Reynolds said he was not satisfied Thompson had intended to sell the drugs.
The former Essendon and Geelong coach had maintained his innocence since his arrest in May last year, claiming the 480 MDA pills found inside a locked room at his Port Melbourne home belonged to his bikie roommate — convicted drug trafficker Thomas Windsor.
Thompson said he had initially been charmed by the heavily tattooed and muscular stranger, who soon began pressuring him to let him move in.
Police raided Thompson’s converted warehouse on January 5, 2018, seizing drugs and paraphernalia and arresting Windsor and two others a short time later.
Mr Reynolds said that despite Thompson’s claims he had stored the ecstasy pills in his room at Windsor’s request, he had at all times had “custody and control” of the drugs.
Yesterday’s ruling followed a desperate fight by Thompson to clear his name.
An at times emotional Thompson spent more than three hours in the witness box last month as he told the court of his “sad” life after football.
The former star revealed he was smoking a gram of ice per week, watching YouTube videos and spending up to 12 hours a day working on his bitcoin portfolio after leaving the AFL in “a bad way”.
Yesterday his lawyer said the issues that befell his career, including the fallout of the Essendon supplement saga, led him hi to a “self-imposed exile”. He said Thompson’s public admissions came at a great cost to his career, profile and reputation.
“His evidence was very poignant and it was very damaging,” defence lawyer Mick Milardovic said.
The court heard that since January last year Thompson had sought treatment for his drug abuse issues and was engaging with mental health professionals, demonstrating his ability to rehabilitate.
Mr Reynolds said it was clear Thompson had “taken steps to endeavour to change aspects of (his) life” and ordered him to undergo drug and mental health treatment as part of his sentence.
During the plea hearing, the court was told of Thompson’s bizarre new “business ventures” including the production of hydrogen inhalers.
When asked by the magistrate what the inhalers did, his lawyer said he wasn’t familiar with them, but had been told by Thompson it was “a burgeoning field, your honour”.
It comes as Thompson revealed his obsession with cryptocurrency last month, saying he felt like he was “flying” when trading and despite the online currency market crash, said he still believed bitcoin had an “exciting” future.
His defence had argued yesterday Thompson should be given the benefit of a non-conviction, citing his good character, lack of prior history and contributions to the AFL.
Thompson was supported in court by half a dozen friends and family, including his children.
Wearing a navy suit and roughly knotted tie, Thompson remained tight-lipped as he hurried from court last night and into a waiting car.
HIS EVIDENCE WAS VERY POIGNANT AND IT WAS VERY DAMAGING
DEFENCE LAWYER MICK MILARDOVIC