Jamie William Williamson, Damien Hooper, Nathan Allen, Michael Katsidis, Ricky Thornberry front court for drug offences

From rugby league players to world class boxers, here is a list of Toowoomba and Darling Downs sport stars who found themselves on the wrong side of the law and in court.

Nathan Allen, Damien Hooper and Michael Katsidis.

The Darling Downs is renowned for producing high-quality athletes across a broad spectrum of sports.

We’re the heartland for rugby league, we’ve been the breeding grounds for greats in racing and boxing, but sometimes the paths of our region’s athletes can go wayward.

Here are six Toowoomba and Darling Downs athletes who ran afoul of the law despite promising sports careers.

Jamie William Williamson

The former Toowoomba rugby league player was found guilty in 2010 of trafficking and possessing speed, ecstasy and cannabis as a result of one of the state’s largest drug busts.

He was subsequently sentenced to 13 years behind bars.

His trial in the Supreme Court heard Williamson had a drug business in the Toowoomba region selling to wholesalers and street dealers between 2004 and 2006.

Williamson was arrested at Brisbane Airport in December 2006, when he returned home from a luxury Hawaiian holiday, after police had earlier raided two storage sheds hired in his name.

During the raid, code-named Operation Delta Rosetta, police found $564,000 cash stashed in a knapsack and canvas bag, 8kg of cannabis, thousands of ecstasy tablets, 2kg of methylamphetamine and a large number of firearms.

Williamson also had $9850 in cash in his possession when he was arrested at the airport.

FULL STORY HERE

2007 Stawell Gift winner Nathan Allen.

Nathan Allen

The 2007 Stawell Gift winner was dreaming of a 2008 Beijing Olympics run when he was arrested in March of 2008.

Allen was arrested by detectives in Melbourne after attending a press conference to launch the 2008 running of the Stawell Gift, as reported by the Brisbane Times and Sydney Morning Herald.

Earlier in the day police seized a parcel containing six vials of steroids labelled as “bath oils” sent to Allen’s post office box from Thailand.

The sprinter, who planned to use the steroids to speed up his recovery from a groin injury pleaded guilty to one count of importing steroids.

He was convicted and fined $2000 and ordered to pay $750 in costs.

Michael Katsidis.

Michael Katsidis

Former world champion boxer Michael Katsidis has vowed to turn his life around after being sentenced for the possession of dangerous drugs, saying he hopes the crime will be no more than a “speed bump” in his life.

Katsidis, 41, faced the Brisbane Supreme Court for sentence on Tuesday after earlier pleading guilty to a single charge of possessing dangerous drugs.

Crown prosecutor Ronald Swanwick said in April 2019, police raided a Browns Plains home where they discovered 34 plastic bags filled with the drug ice hidden inside the agitator and drum of a washing machine.

The bags each contained between 22 and 28 grams of methylamphetamine with a combined weight of 911 grams.

The court heard Katsidis had stayed at the home for a period of days prior to the raid and his fingerprints were found on seven of the 34 bags which the court accepted amounted to a “fleeting” possession of the drugs.

FULL STORY HERE

Ricky Alan Thornberry.

Ricky Thornberry

At the peak of his career Thornberry was fighting the likes of Anthony Mundine and challenging for world titles.

In 2011 the fighter known also known as “The Gatton Tiger” was jailed for two years for driving around Brisbane streets with an “eight-ball” quantity of the illicit drug “speed” and a loaded semiautomatic pistol.

The Brisbane Supreme Court was told Thornberry, 43, had developed a serious addiction and a string of convictions for drugs offences since June 2008 – which was effectively the end of his illustrious career as a one of the world’s finest pugilists.

Justice Peter Applegarth was told Thornberry’s life spun out of control and went into an inevitable “downward spiral” with the end of his boxing career – leading to his addiction to marijuana and methylamphetamine, known on the street as speed.

Thornberry had earlier pleaded guilty to one count each of unlawfully possessing a dangerous drug, namely 12.19 grams of methyl-amphetamine, and a .22 calibre semi automatic pistol which had its serial number ground off in April 2010.

FULL STORY HERE

Former Olympic boxer Damien Hooper.

Damien Hooper

Talented boxer Damien Hooper has a plan for a legitimate life when he is released from jail – swapping boxing gloves for comb and scissors.

The former light heavyweight champion has been in some hairy situations facing opponents in the ring but now he sees a future in cutting locks, not cutting boxer’s down to size.

The 28-year-old appeared via video on January 8, 2021 from the watch house to plead guilty before Toowoomba Magistrates Court to entering a Taylor St house and taking cigarettes, car keys and a phone charger.

When the couple who occupied the home returned to find Hooper in their house, he had jumped out of a window, police prosecutor Chris Willson told the court.

However, while the woman of the house called police, her partner had confronted Hooper in the back yard and he had handed back items taken from the home, Senior Constable Willson said.

Hooper was found with small amounts of cannabis and meth on him when arrested and he had not initially co-operated with police placing him into the police van.

He pleaded guilty to entering a dwelling, obstructing police and two counts of possessing dangerous drugs.

Hooper was sentenced to nine months in jail, to be served concurrently with his current sentence, and ordered he be eligible to apply for release on parole as of April 9.

FULL STORY HERE

Originally published as Jamie William Williamson, Damien Hooper, Nathan Allen, Michael Katsidis, Ricky Thornberry front court for drug offences