Mark Thompson - Serious Drugs Charges

[jeemak]

This is a sorry development. Please comment being mindful the matter is before the courts:

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/afl-great-mark-bomber-thompson-to-face-court-over-drug-charges-20180501-p4zcpg.html

[bornadog]

Not surprised

[ledge]

Seems the law has been keeping an eye for a while .
Love his quirkiness but sadly it seems it's from illegal means.
He is one of a kind that has lost his way .
Very successful person but the devil has taken hold.
Life is full of these stories, it's sad and it robs the world of amazing people.

[bulldogtragic]

This is a sorry development. Please comment being mindful the matter is before the courts:

https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/afl-great-mark-bomber-thompson-to-face-court-over-drug-charges-20180501-p4zcpg.html

The charges seem at the very low end, that is, there's no (whatever the current terms are) 'traffick large quantity', 'traffick commercial quantity' or 'traffick large commercial quantity'. The possession charges are nothing unless it's a huge quantity, which it seems not to be. A good barrister should be able to get these charges pleaded down with extenuating circumstances, great character references and commitment to a community based order or similar. I'm sure times have changed since it was my day job, but I can't remember too many getting impriosmemt for similar charges that had a good barrister. Hopefully, he gets his life together.

[Dry Rot]

Jake has joined a fine club full of illustrious role models.

[Twodogs]

The charges seem at the very low end, that is, there's no (whatever the current terms are) 'traffick large quantity', 'traffick commercial quantity' or 'traffick large commercial quantity'. The possession charges are nothing unless it's a huge quantity, which it seems not to be. A good barrister should be able to get these charges pleaded down with extenuating circumstances, great character references and commitment to a community based order or similar. I'm sure times have changed since it was my day job, but I can't remember too many getting impriosmemt for similar charges that had a good barrister. Hopefully, he gets his life together.

Isn't traffick Commercial Quanity the one they reverse the Burden of Proof for? The defence's job is to prove their client wasn't intending to sell the drugs for profit.

[Dry Rot]

Nearly a kilo is a lot of E.

[Twodogs]

Nearly a kilo is a lot of E.


Where did you read that?

It's a shedload of disco bikkies.

[bulldogtragic]

Nearly a kilo is a lot of E.

I didn't see that in his charges. That would change things badly in has favour if that's the amount.

[GVGjr]

All, we need to be somewhat factual if we are referring to the charges or quantities. Rumours will have the posts removed.

Reliable sources or speculation can't be accepted.

[Funke disco]

Isn't traffick Commercial Quanity the one they reverse the Burden of Proof for? The defence's job is to prove their client wasn't intending to sell the drugs for profit.

That will be tricky given they have found scales and clear plastic zip bags in his room. Really sorry situation

[Remi Moses]

No doubt the “ Top Bloke “ card will be out in spades

[Dry Rot]

Where did you read that?

It's a shedload of disco bikkies.


I didn't see that in his charges. That would change things badly in has favour if that's the amount.


OK, this article resolves the facts.

https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/afl-great-mark-bomber-thompson-to-face-court-over-drug-charges-20180501-p4zcpg.html

The cops found more than a kilo of eccies in Bomber's house, but stuffed up the DNA analysis with most of it, so Bomber only got charged with 134 gms.

The scales, bags etc don't look too good though.

[FrediKanoute]

That will be tricky given they have found scales and clear plastic zip bags in his room. Really sorry situation

I was in the Brisbane Magistrates court in 2001 because my housemate was up on a DD charge. The case before was a guy who had been busted with a sizeable quantity of marijuana, neatly packed into little ounce bags in his car. He pleaded that he was a really organised person and that the gear was for personal consumption. The Magistrate agreed - non-custodial sentence.

[Webby]

Going back to late 2014 on this forum when we were discussing potential coaches, you can see some related stuff mentioned re Mr Thompson.

Can’t believe I’m saying this, but I hope he’s an addict - not a dealer or trafficker..

[Murphy'sLore]

Poor sad bastard.

[Topdog]

Am I reading too much into it or does it seem like the "2 random people living in his house" may have dobbed him in?

[angelopetraglia]

The million dollar questions. They are now saying that there obvious signs of unusual behavior and possible illicit drug usage even when he was the coach of Geelong. This got worse while he was the assistant coach at Essendon.

1) How did he get the Bombers senior job?
2) How did he keep his Foxtel gig?

[Mofra]

Interesting the links with Thailand considering he was denied entry to the Marybyrnong Detention Centre late last year because of "the state he was in".

There have been rumours for years an a whole host of odd behaviors from Bomber which led his ex-teammates to worry about him but it really has come home to roost. I'd say he's going away for a while given current reports - trafficable quantities in a keypad operated room.

[ledge]

I would think he needs help psychiatricaly( is that a word?) more than prison.

[SlimPickens]

I would think he needs help psychiatricaly( is that a word?) more than prison.

No, "Psychiatric help is what you're after

[Twodogs]

Am I reading too much into it or does it seem like the "2 random people living in his house" may have dobbed him in?

They were member of motorbike gangs and they tell police anything, it's a code of honour for them. I don't think that Bomber actually invited them to stay. I think they just turned up one night and told Thompson they were moving in. Kind of like a home invasion but they liked it so much they stayed.



The million dollar questions. There are now saying that there obvious signs of unusual behavior and possible illicit drug usage even when he was the coach of Geelong. This got worse while he was the assistant coach at Essendon.

1) How did he get the Bombers senior job?
2) How did he keep his Foxtel gig?

Addicts aren't stupid, they are sick.

How did he get the Bombers job. A bit like Steven Bradbury the obstacles between him and it just fell away one by one until he sort of fell forward's into it. How does he keep his Foxtel gig? It's TV. Let's face it he's probably not the only one in the studio in an altered state of consciousness.


I would think he needs help psychiatricaly( is that a word?) more than prison.

He certainly doesly. Poor guy is going through a real hell

[Axe Man]

Am I reading too much into it or does it seem like the "2 random people living in his house" may have dobbed him in?

One of the guys arrested by the police had a parking ticket in his car received out the front of Thompson's Port Melbourne property which led them there.

[bulldogtragic]

One of the guys arrested by the police had a parking ticket in his car received out the front of Thompson's Port Melbourne property which led them there.

Yeh for traffic inspectors! We clearly need loads more of them to win the war on drugs and war on parking passed the signed time limit, in suburban Melbourne but not regional centres like Bendigo.

[bornadog]

They were member of motorbike gangs and they tell police anything, it's a code of honour for them. I don't think that Bomber actually invited them to stay. I think they just turned up one night and told Thompson they were moving in. Kind of like a home invasion but they liked it so much they stayed.

TD, they may have turned up but he must know them. According to the article posted by DR above, there was drugs stashed all over the house.

I am sorry to say but I have no sympathy for this bloke. However, he needs help desperately.

[Mofra]

Addicts aren't stupid, they are sick.

Poor guy is going through a real hell
Agree x 2.

People close to him have spoken many times about the supplements saga and it's effect on him, comments like "I need to let it go but I just can't".

[Eastdog]

A fall from grace.

[Twodogs]

A fall from grace.


A big one. I can't see him being the last though Easty.

[bornadog]

A big one. I can't see him being the last though Easty.

Just hope if he doesn't do time as he could be worse off mentally than he is now.

[AndrewP6]

If he showed signs of drug usage prior to this, I'm not surprised. It's not unusual to be a high functioning addict.

[Ghost Dog]

I was in the Brisbane Magistrates court in 2001 because my housemate was up on a DD charge. The case before was a guy who had been busted with a sizeable quantity of marijuana, neatly packed into little ounce bags in his car. He pleaded that he was a really organised person and that the gear was for personal consumption. The Magistrate agreed - non-custodial sentence.

That's very funny.
How famous people think their drug problems will remain secret is beyond me.
The massive bags under his eyes were always a bit of a give away.

[merantau]

I was surprised to hear an acquaitance say today that he wasn't at all surprised to hear of Bomber's travails. High profile people seem to think they are invisible for some reason.

[Max469]

My boss also knew about it. He runs with a footy circle and told me about it a couple of years ago. Very sad as I am one of the few it seems, that liked Bomber. Met him about 18 months ago and he was happy to talk all things Bulldogs in the short time we had.

[mjp]

One of the guys arrested by the police had a parking ticket in his car received out the front of Thompson's Port Melbourne property which led them there.

Hmmm.

Dig a little deeper.

[Testekill]

I think that everyone suspected Bomber of being on something, but I'd always assumed that it was cocaine, A kilo of MDMA is a big deal and the electronic scales is basically everything the prosecution needed to slap him with trafficking.

[The bulldog tragician]

https://youtu.be/zUurvaI7XU8

[bornadog]

Good article by Martin Blake on Bomber - here (https://www.theage.com.au/sport/afl/the-bomber-who-fell-to-earth-20180502-p4zcws.html)

[The Adelaide Connection]

It sounds like Thompson’s alleged drug use (which has possibly stretched back to at least his coaching days at the Cats) is one of the worst kept secrets in footy. Certainly when the initial drama went down a few months ago (with the arrest of his houseguest) enough people expressed concern and alluded to having had those concerns for a good while.

If so, it makes all of these close associates that are coming out all shocked and worried look a little like the enablers that sat back, turned a blind eye, and let Ben Cousins go speeding down the rabbit hole to self destruction. They should hang their heads in shame. Sure there may be a few that genuinely didn’t know, but I call BS on the majority of them.

Also, as much as I have sympathy and feel sorry for him if he has found himself in a dark place with addiction, mental health issues etc. I would not maintain my level of sympathy if he was indeed dealing. This is a bloke that made more money than he could probably know what to do with through a bumper property deal, it’s not like he had to sell to support any potential habits.

[jeemak]

When these types of stories arise I wonder how readily those supporting Bomber the Champ Thompson would support your average garden variety, low socio-economic and low profile person set to face the same charges (as is normally the case).

Cases like these really do show us how hypocritical we can be as a society, and the double standards and privilege that pervades our discourse when they receive some profile.

[jeemak]

It sounds like Thompson’s alleged drug use (which has possibly stretched back to at least his coaching days at the Cats) is one of the worst kept secrets in footy. Certainly when the initial drama went down a few months ago (with the arrest of his houseguest) enough people expressed concern and alluded to having had those concerns for a good while.

If so, it makes all of these close associates that are coming out all shocked and worried look a little like the enablers that sat back, turned a blind eye, and let Ben Cousins go speeding down the rabbit hole to self destruction. They should hang their heads in shame. Sure there may be a few that genuinely didn’t know, but I call BS on the majority of them.

Also, as much as I have sympathy and feel sorry for him if he has found himself in a dark place with addiction, mental health issues etc. I would not maintain my level of sympathy if he was indeed dealing. This is a bloke that made more money than he could probably know what to do with through a bumper property deal, it’s not like he had to sell to support any potential habits.

On top of the "shocked enablers" there would be a litany of folks in the industry thinking "what's happened to Bomber won't happen to me"......and they'd all be keeping extremely quiet right now.

[Dry Rot]

From the Australian



THE AUSTRALIAN ›

The sad ‘breaking bad’ of Bomber Thompson, the footballing virtuoso

CHIP LE GRAND MAY 02, 2018

From his place high in the stands, behind the glass of the coaches’ box, Thompson could distil from the mayhem below the critical move that needed to be made, the message that needed to be sent, the lever that needed to be pulled to swing a contest, a match, a season. For those two hours each week, he was a virtuoso, a man with a rare sporting gift.

It was outside the coaches’ box, away from the stadium lights, that Thompson’s life spiralled out of control.

What remains of that life is now finely balanced. Having captained Essendon to a premiership and coached Geelong to their drought-breaking flag in 2007, having been celebrated and feted and publicly revered, Thompson is facing serious criminal charges of trafficking two drugs of dependence: ecstasy and methylamphetamine, commonly known as ice.

This time, Thompson can see no way out.

He is adamant he did not traffic drugs, but has confided in friends that he cannot co-operate with police for fear of reprisals by those to whom he foolishly opened his Port Melbourne home.

He is what career criminals call a square head: a 54-year-old father of three with no previous criminal convictions who, having dedicated his working life to keeping young footballers fit, strong and motivated, now stands accused of breaking bad.

It is a dramatic, abject fall from grace. Yet those who know him well are not entirely surprised.

“Bomber carried off this dual lifestyle,’’ an Essendon figure said. “Everyone thought he was an amazing player, coach at Geelong and great Essendon person. Superficially he probably was but once you drilled down, it was just a mess. Most people didn’t see that.’’

Such was Thompson’s erratic behaviour in his final year at Essendon in 2014, his last as an AFL coach, that the club kept a discreet log recording episodes ranging from the bizarre to deeply troubling.

Karl ‘Bang Bang’ Holt. Picture: Mike Dugdale
Karl ‘Bang Bang’ Holt. Picture: Mike Dugdale
Detailed in its pages are the time he walked out of the club at 11am, only to be found asleep in his car by a security guard five hours later. The time that, less than an hour before an AFL match he was supposed to coach, his fellow coaches and staff had no idea where he was.

There are the training sessions missed without explanation. His no-shows at important meetings. The occasions he would arrive late, lathered in sweat, looking as though he hadn’t slept the night before or indeed, for days.

It is tempting to sheet all of this back to the Essendon drug scandal: a sporting, political and legal wrecking ball that swung through Windy Hill in 2013 and over the next three years, lay the club, its players, staff and lifelong friendships to waste.

Thompson, by his own reckoning, was consumed by the scandal. He is haunted by the role he played in bringing to the club Dean Robinson, a headstrong conditioning coach who in turn introduced to Essendon the now discredited and bankrupt sports scientist Stephen Dank.

At the same time, Thompson bristles with injustice at how he was treated by the AFL and, later, by his own club.

It is simplistic to see Thompson’s personal crisis solely through this prism. Although his behaviour deteriorated after the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority and the AFL launched a joint investigation into suspected doping at Essendon, it didn’t start there. At Essendon, successive management regimes stretching back to 2010, when Thompson was hired from Geelong to mentor newly appointed senior coach James Hird, suspected Thompson of using drugs.

Thomas Windsor. Picture: Bendigo Advertiser
Thomas Windsor. Picture: Bendigo Advertiser
Well before the supplements scandal broke, Essendon staged an intervention. Thompson was called to a meeting in chief executive Ian Robson’s office where he found Robson, club president David Evans, Hird and club doctor Bruce Reid waiting for him. They each expressed concern about his welfare.

It was left to Reid to ask Thompson the question they all had: whether he was using drugs. Thompson vehemently denied it and consistently has to anyone who has since asked.

There were also problems at Geelong, where Thompson became the first Cats coach in 44 years to bring a premiership cup to Kardinia Park.

The year before the premiership, he split from his wife and mother of his three children who were living in Melbourne.

He moved permanently to Geelong and started a relationship with a much younger woman. He grew distant from old friends and became untethered from his support network.

In his final years at the club, his players started seeing him at the same nightspots they frequented, at hours when all of them should have been in bed.

He grew rich from a local property development and started keeping company with a clique of similarly wealthy men who could afford to live fast and loose.

One of them was said to have kept a permanent address at Crown casino.

By the time he joined Essendon at the end of the 2010 season, having misled Geelong about his intentions, his arrival was accompanied by worrying tales from a not-so-Sleepy Hollow. Essendon officials noted his short concentration span and his difficulty looking people in the eye. Which brings us to Bang Bang.

Karl “Bang Bang” Holt is hard to miss. His shaved head is covered with tattoos. His black Mercedes coupe carries the personalised licence plate ONBAIL.

On January 4 this year, police intercepted Holt and his girlfriend, Katia Drcec, on a stretch of the Princes Highway just outside Geelong. Inside his car, they allegedly found more than 100g of methamphetamine, a crack pipe and $2380 in cash.

From there, police paid a visit to Drcec’s mother’s house in Mill Park where they found more drugs and cash and a semi-automatic pistol.

The arrests of Holt and Drcec led police to search for Holt’s well-known business associate, the burly, heavily inked Thomas Windsor. They found him at a property at Lara, where his rented Toyota Corolla was parked on the front lawn. Checks on the car revealed that a parking inspector sighted it two days earlier in the Port Melbourne street where Thompson owns a converted warehouse. Further checks revealed Thompson had paid for Windsor’s car rental.

On January 5, armed members of the Geelong Divisional Response Unit executed a search warrant on Thompson’s property. Nobody was home but when they forced their way in, police discovered a trafficable quantity of drugs and an array of equipment commonly used by those in the trade to weigh, package and mix their illicit products.

The largest stash of drugs found at the address was nearly a kilogram of MDMA, otherwise known as the party drug ecstasy. More problematic for Thompson is a series of smaller packets of the same drug, with a combined weight of 134.6g, found in a locked storage room leading off his bedroom.

According to police, these packets were found to have traces of Thompson’s DNA. Police found them next to Geelong Football Club memorabilia that Thompson had kept since his glory days as a premiership coach.

Thompson’s home is in a row of warehouses in a narrow street. He has lived there since 2010. Police allege Windsor has also been living there for a while, running a criminal enterprise from the same premises where Essendon used to hold its regular coaches’ meetings.

When Thompson appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday to answer the charges against him and apply for bail, police said they had found a handwritten lease agreement between Thompson and Windsor on the kitchen table.

Police say they also have evidence of an exchange of a large sum of money between the pair.

Windsor, Holt and Drcec are currently remanded in custody, waiting for committal proceedings on charges of trafficking commercial quantities of drugs. Thompson successfully applied for bail on the condition that he have no contact with his co-accused, surrender his passport and report to police three times a week. His immediate fate will be decided on summary, by a magistrate. Two of the key questions he will be asked to answer is how Windsor came to live at his home and what he knew of his alleged criminal activities.

If Thompson is to be believed, Windsor is a house guest who simply refused to leave.

They met, Thompson liked him, and offered him a place to stay.

Thompson maintains he had no involvement in any drugs Windsor allegedly distributed or sold from his Port Melbourne warehouse, where Windsor had the run of a self-contained flat.

Thompson’s lawyer, David Hallowes SC, told the bail hearing that the trafficking charges would be “vigorously denied’’.

Thompson is charged with three such counts. Each one carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.

As news of Thompson’s troubles spread, many old friends reached out to the fallen football hero. One told The Australian that he visited Thompson recently, some weeks after the police raid, and was struck by how healthy and relaxed he seemed.

Another was planning to meet Thompson last night to offer what help he could.

They are terribly saddened but not genuinely shocked at where it has ended for Bomber. For many years, he has been watching the game with his eyes half-closed.

[Topdog]

Gee that article is quite revealing.

[The bulldog tragician]

There are photos on twitter of his head being used as a mascot at rave parties - these date back 2-3 years.

The Australian article is very illuminating. Despite all the protestations these things don’t come from left field. I don’t think it’s been mentioned but wasn’t there commentary at the time of him putting in a bizarre rambling performance in the final B and F when he left Essendon as a coach

[Twodogs]

There are photos on twitter of his head being used as a mascot at rave parties - these date back 2-3 years.

The Australian article is very illuminating. Despite all the protestations these things don’t come from left field. I don’t think it’s been mentioned but wasn’t there commentary at the time of him putting in a bizarre rambling performance in the final B and F when he left Essendon as a coach

I first heard Bomber was having drug problems about three years ago.

[Ghost Dog]

No doubt Robbo, Loydo and every other o will find a way to blame someone else about it.

[Twodogs]

No doubt Robbo, Loydo and every other o will find a way to blame someone else about it.


Off on a tangent but affixing a 'Y' on the end of a grown man's name doesn't make him seem more down to earth and humane. It makes him sound childish and ridiculous.

Jeffy Garlett hasn't played one game of AFL football as far as I remember. On the other hand Jeff Garlett has played some solid footy for Melbourne this year. Tom Boyd took a couple of real clunkers on Friday night and gave us all some hope. I went to primary school with somebody called Tommy. You never hear of Marcussy Bontompelli or Eastonny Wood and Jasonny Johannisen doesn't get a look in. I can only assume they are hardened individuals incapable of taking a simple childish pleasure in life.


Ignore me I just had to vent.

[bornadog]

Grant Thomas‏ @Thomo_Grant (https://twitter.com/Thomo_Grant)
@Thomo_Grant

Surprise surprise. Cats hierarchy need to take done responsibility in this. Every inside AFL person I spoke to whilst coaching knew he was on some gear but nothing was ever done about it. Seems he has progressed to sadder heights. Disappointing for his family & friends.

[Twodogs]

Grant Thomas‏ @Thomo_Grant (https://twitter.com/Thomo_Grant)
@Thomo_Grant

Surprise surprise. Cats hierarchy need to take done responsibility in this. Every inside AFL person I spoke to whilst coaching knew he was on some gear but nothing was ever done about it. Seems he has progressed to sadder heights. Disappointing for his family & friends.



I wouldn't call them heights but Thomas is right, it's been the worst kept secret in footy.

[GVGjr]

Grant Thomas‏ @Thomo_Grant (https://twitter.com/Thomo_Grant)
@Thomo_Grant

Surprise surprise. Cats hierarchy need to take done responsibility in this. Every inside AFL person I spoke to whilst coaching knew he was on some gear but nothing was ever done about it. Seems he has progressed to sadder heights. Disappointing for his family & friends.


It's something that he has strongly denied for years. Perhaps if GT's views are accurate and had Thompson fessed up a few years ago and got help he probably needed he might not be in the position he is now.

I think there will be a concerted effort in the media to paint Thompson as a victim. The blame will come down to the other people in the house at the time or the fact that he lost his way since the Essendon drugs saga. I doubt that the media will explore the notion that there has likely been prolonged period of inconsistent behaviors by Thompson.

I also tend to think he will either get off (technicality) or have a vastly reduced sentence when really that shouldn't be the case. The media darling and lovable larrikin simply doesn't deserve the level of consideration he will receive.

[Twodogs]

It's something that he has strongly denied for years. Perhaps if GT's views are accurate and had Thompson fessed up a few years ago and got help he probably needed he might not be in the position he is now.

I think there will be a concerted effort in the media to paint Thompson as a victim. The blame will come down to the other people in the house at the time or the fact that he lost his way since the Essendon drugs saga. I doubt that the media will explore the notion that there has likely been prolonged period of inconsistent behaviors by Thompson.

I also tend to think he will either get off (technicality) or have a vastly reduced sentence when really that shouldn't be the case. The media darling and lovable larrikin simply doesn't deserve the level of consideration he will receive.

I think that process has already begun;



Senior Constable Bourke said a further 839.7 grams of MDMA was found in an area lived in by co-accused Thomas Windsor but due to oversights from the clandestine drug unit DNA could not be obtained.

IF. If Thompson has been dealing drugs for money (and I'm not saying he was) then it must mean he has smoked and snorted his way through all the money from the property deal and from all those years coaching.

[AndrewP6]

Off on a tangent but affixing a 'Y' on the end of a grown man's name doesn't make him seem more down to earth and humane. It makes him sound childish and ridiculous.

Jeffy Garlett hasn't played one game of AFL football as far as I remember. On the other hand Jeff Garlett has played some solid footy for Melbourne this year. Tom Boyd took a couple of real clunkers on Friday night and gave us all some hope. I went to primary school with somebody called Tommy. You never hear of Marcussy Bontompelli or Eastonny Wood and Jasonny Johannisen doesn't get a look in. I can only assume they are hardened individuals incapable of taking a simple childish pleasure in life.


Ignore me I just had to vent.

It doesn't suit all names, as you rightly observe. For some of those, we switch to the surname, and so you get Bonty, Woody and Boydy!

[Twodogs]

It doesn't suit all names, as you rightly observe. For some of those, we switch to the surname, and so you get Bonty, Woody and Boydy!


Yep, I'll pay that one.

[Mofra]

It doesn't suit all names, as you rightly observe. For some of those, we switch to the surname, and so you get Bonty, Woody and Boydy!
JayJay too much of a stretch?
Jongy is a common one though.

[ledge]

Read an article where Hird says Essendon didn't support him or Thompson, WTF they gave him a million and a 12 month holiday!
Then they gave Thompson a year coaching after the saga !

[merantau]

Read an article where Hird says Essendon didn't support him or Thompson, WTF they gave him a million and a 12 month holiday!
Then they gave Thompson a year coaching after the saga !

I read that too. Almost threw-up my Weetbix!

[comrade]

https://youtu.be/zUurvaI7XU8

What seemed like a joke at the time, albeit a kind of weird one, now seems pretty enlightening.

[The Adelaide Connection]

They have released an update to the mess that Bomber has got himself in (link below).

Key points:
-There was a locked room (with a keypad lock) attached to his bedroom where they found 134 ecstasy tablets (more than 40 times the trafficable quantity). There was a cigarette butt with his DNA in the room.
-They found scales and empty deal bags in a room alogside with Geelong football club memorabillia.
-In another room they found a lockbox with MDMA, LSD, and Xanax (again with his DNA all over it).
- He is facing 8 charges in total, including three counts of trafficking.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/new-details-of-drug-raid-on-afl-premiership-coach-and-player-mark-bomber-thompsons-home-revealed/news-story/6a9fcc2d056871c885d737c7fd75d5ef

[westdog54]

If the Police have dotted their I's and crossed their T's he's going to have a very hard time beating this.

If he goes to a contested hearing and gets found guilty he'll likely be jailed.

[bulldogtragic]

I think he'll actually get through it relatively unscathed.

[divvydan]

If it's more than 40x the trafficable quantity, that implies the trafficable quantity is 3, which seems very low to be considered trafficable. Not really related to this case, just as an aside.

[GVGjr]

They have released an update to the mess that Bomber has got himself in (link below).

Key points:
-There was a locked room (with a keypad lock) attached to his bedroom where they found 134 ecstasy tablets (more than 40 times the trafficable quantity). There was a cigarette butt with his DNA in the room.
-They found scales and empty deal bags in a room alogside with Geelong football club memorabillia.
-In another room they found a lockbox with MDMA, LSD, and Xanax (again with his DNA all over it).
- He is facing 8 charges in total, including three counts of trafficking.

https://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/new-details-of-drug-raid-on-afl-premiership-coach-and-player-mark-bomber-thompsons-home-revealed/news-story/6a9fcc2d056871c885d737c7fd75d5ef

I hope the media just don't try a paint a picture of Thompson being a victim here. Mark Robinson had better not go into bat for his mate. These are compelling charges and the courts need to decide this not have people on the jury influenced by media sob stories

[Twodogs]

If the Police have dotted their I's and crossed their T's he's going to have a very hard time beating this.

If he goes to a contested hearing and gets found guilty he'll likely be jailed.

It doesn't look good for him-as it shouldn't. If he was selling in order to feed an addiction then you could understand to an extent but Thompson has more money than you could poke a stick at. Selling drugs when you are in his position is not defensible in any way.

Put him away for good I reckon.

[The bulldog tragician]

I hope the media just don't try a paint a picture of Thompson being a victim here. Mark Robinson had better not go into bat for his mate. These are compelling charges and the courts need to decide this not have people on the jury influenced by media sob stories

Totally agree. He is a man in his 50s who’s had all the advantages in life that come with sporting success. Spare a thought instead for those that end up with their lives wrecked. I work for a family violence agency and this year almost half of the women we saw said their abuser was using ice. These are the victims being created while Thompson from his Port Melbourne apartment makes his foolish decisions.

[The Adelaide Connection]

It doesn't look good for him-as it shouldn't. If he was selling in order to feed an addiction then you could understand to an extent but Thompson has more money than you could poke a stick at. Selling drugs when you are in his position is not defensible in any way.

Put him away for good I reckon.

The cynic in me thinks that all the ex-colleagues and mates that came out with concerns about his mental health earlier in the year might have been the handywork of a high powered attorney getting ahead of the curve.

It wouldn't matter if he had Gus Frings underground lab, they'd still get him off.

[westdog54]

If it's more than 40x the trafficable quantity, that implies the trafficable quantity is 3, which seems very low to be considered trafficable. Not really related to this case, just as an aside.

Traffickable quantity is via weight moreso than number of pills.

[Twodogs]

Traffickable quantity is via weight moreso than number of pills.

They must have been pretty big pills then.

[westdog54]

It doesn't look good for him-as it shouldn't. If he was selling in order to feed an addiction then you could understand to an extent but Thompson has more money than you could poke a stick at. Selling drugs when you are in his position is not defensible in any way.

Put him away for good I reckon.

If you're selling to feed an addiction, you plead guilty at the earliest opportunity and present it as a mitigating factor at sentencing, along with references from professionals you've already sought assistance from.

You certainly don't drag a magistrate and the Police through a 3 day contested hearing.

[Twodogs]

If you're selling to feed an addiction, you plead guilty at the earliest opportunity and present it as a mitigating factor at sentencing, along with references from professionals you've already sought assistance from.

You certainly don't drag a magistrate and the Police through a 3 day contested hearing.

Yup, agreed.