Accused Canberra drug trafficker Brendan Baker drove Mercedes to first date and covered his bed in $50 bills, a court heard

The ex-girlfriend of accused Canberra drug trafficker Brendan Baker said he rocked up to their first date in a Mercedes and she once saw him cover his bed with $50 bills, a court has heard.

Accused Canberra drug trafficker Brendan Baker with his beloved Mercedes.

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The ex-girlfriend of an accused Canberra drug trafficker said he rocked up to their first date in a Mercedes and she saw him cover his bed with $50 bills, a court has heard.

Appearing as a witness at the trial of Brendan Baker at ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday, ex-girlfriend Olivia Perry said Mr Baker would frequently count cash in the bedroom of his O’Connor house.

She recalls once seeing “quite a lot of the bed” covered in $50 bills and that Mr Baker had told her he had dealt MDMA, cocaine and marijuana.

Mr Baker’s Facebook page is dominated by selfies with many of them showing off his ripped body.

After Mr Baker cracked on to Ms Perry at the gym they both went to, he drove his Mercedes to their first date in April 2017.

“He told me he owned it and it was (the equivalent) to someone’s full time wage for a year,” she said.

Brendan Baker cracked onto his then girlfriend at the gym before rocking up to their first date in his Mercedes. Source: Facebook.

The court heard Mr Baker took out a loan “in the vicinity of $60,000” to pay for the car.

Police allege Mr Baker’s lavish lifestyle, his purchase of Remedy cafe in the up-market Canberra suburb of Kingston, cash deposits worth tens of thousands of dollars into his bank account and his purchase of a retail business and a block of land were irreconcilable with his reported income.

The 26-year-old has pleaded not guilty to 12 separate charges including for the importation and trafficking of various drugs and dealing with the proceeds of crime.

Ms Perry said Mr Baker had told her “bikies had raided his house and smashed up everything” which led to him installing cameras and an alarm system.

Brendan Baker has pleaded not guitly to the importation and trafficking of drugs. Source: Facebook.

The court heard Mr Baker purchased Cafe Remedy in Kingston and had bought another business, Grand Concepts, which sold taps and tiles.

“He said he had a past in dealing drugs and he told me he would stop and was trying to make clean honest money through his cafe,” Ms Perry said.

“He said he’d dealt drugs but … that he’d stopped because he felt the police were in his tracks.”

Brendan Baker took out a loan in the vicinity of $60,000 to pay for the Mercedes. Picture: Facebook.

Ms Perry said Mr Baker “always dealt in cash” during their seven month relationship, in which there were “a lot of rules”.

“I wasn’t allowed to touch his laptop, I wasn’t allowed to touch his phone …. I wasn’t allowed to answer the door, there were some days he told me I wasn’t allowed to come home … I wasn’t allowed to receive packages.”

The court also heard from Crown witness Paul McCauley, a dealer turned informant against Mr Baker.

Brendan Baker has pleaded not guilty to all 12 charges levelled against him.

Mr Baker’s barrister Astrid Haban-Beer put it to Mr McCauley that he was “just making up a story” in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

“You are also a drug trafficker,” she told the court.

“Your information has got to be good and full of meaty detail doesn’t it? You are giving police as much information as possible so you can save yourself?”

Mr McCauley denied this.

“No, I’m telling the truth, I’m just telling what happened,” Mr McCauley said.

The trial continues.