Riverland football coach Arrod Westley dealt drugs to Lyrup Lions football teammates
A FORMER Riverland country football coach and local community “role model” trafficked illicit drugs to teammates instead of match payments, a court has heard.
A FORMER Riverland country football coach and local community “role model”, sold illicit drugs to teammates and offered to pay one colleague in illegal substances as a match payment, a court has heard.
Arrod Steven Westley, 31, has pleaded guilty to numerous drug trafficking offences after being caught by police with methamphetamine down his underpants in October last year.
Westley, a father-of-one of Renmark, was a talented footballer who coached the Lyrup Lions to a premiership in the 2015 season as he offered a team mate drugs in lieu of match payments, the District Court heard on Tuesday.
He had “lost control” of life that had “ran off the rails” and became a drug addict as he grappled with his relationship breakdown with the mother of his six-year-old daughter, the court heard.
While he mainly dealt drugs to friends and teammates to “make money”, prosecutors said an aggravated feature was that he also sold to other known dealers throughout the area.
Westley, who would use social media sites such as Facebook to arrange deals, was arrested by police on the Old Sturt Highway early one morning last October.
It came after a “major” police undercover operation that had resulted in “dozens” of other arrests as authorities tried to get “up the chain” of dealers, the court heard.
Westley, an irrigation manager with a drink driving conviction, was initially charged with 110 counts of drug trafficking after 10g of ice was found down his underpants.
In April he pleaded guilty to 14 counts of drug trafficking and possessing drug equipment between July 8 and October 15 last year.
During sentencing submissions on Tuesday, prosecutors urged an immediate jail term be imposed as a general deterrent because Westley had abused his position as a community “role model”.
Prosecutor Paul Simionate described the trafficking as “substantial”, saying he offered one teammate the chance to be paid in drugs for playing.
He said Westley was more than just a “low level street dealer”.
“This man was a role model in the community,” he said.
“He would have been classed as a role model amongst the football club.
“He traded to people associated with the football club, in fact breaching their trust and certainly that was to fuel his drug addiction.”
But Eugene McGee, defending, urged Judge Sophie David to suspend any inevitable jail term. Westley faces a maximum penalty of a $50,000 fine, 10 years in jail or both.
“This man is not characterised as an offending type, he is someone who lost control,” he said, adding that using drugs helped Westley manage a busy life.
Among those also arrested by police included Paringa Football Club captain Jonathon Peter Wood, 28.
In February prosecutors dropped one trafficking charge against Wood, of Renmark.
Judge David remanded Westley, also a former coach of Paringa, where his father is a life member, on continuing bail to face sentence next month.
Outside court Westley issued a fresh apology and warned others of the dangers of drugs as he hoped to return to football.
He said: “It was a dark place in my life. I just want to get this over and done with and move on. I just want to be … a good dad and make up for what I have done wrong. It has been the worse year of my life.”
The Advertiser last year reported that Westley had undergone police checks upon joining Lyrup.
Club officials insisted they were unaware of any drug problems at the club.