Alleged drug importer Damion Flower ‘must get bail’ or ‘be significantly impacted’ court hears
Sydney racing identity Damion Flower allegedly used coded language with members of a multimillion-dollar cocaine ring including texts asking ‘what’s the weight of the jockey’ when drugs arrived and a rugby score to identify a shipping container.
Sydney racing identity Damion Flower allegedly used coded language with members of a multimillion-dollar cocaine ring including texts asking ‘what’s the weight of the jockey’ when drugs arrived and a rugby score to identify a shipping container.
Now the 47-year-old must be freed on bail for the sake of his sick daughters and a “significant amount” of people in the industry, his lawyer says.
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On Wednesday the former baggage handler applied for bail at Central Local Court where his mother, his ex wife Camilla and his brother-in-law all offered up equity in their homes for a surety of up to $3.2 million.
Flower was arrested at his Moorebank home last week after allegedly teaming up with an ex-colleague and another man to smuggle the drugs through Sydney Airport on six Qantas flights from South Africa between January and May.
It is understood that when Flower was arrested he owed $2.4 million for four yearlings he bought last month at the Inglis Easter sales.
The ex-Waverley College student also paid $2.4 million for barrier slots in four consecutive instalments of the prestigious annual The Everest, the world’s richest race on turf.
Flower used a burner phone to instruct Qantas baggage handler To Oto O Junior Mafiti and Ashoor Youkhana — who were both arrested at or near the airport with 55 kilograms of cocaine in two duffel bags, Commonwealth prosecutor Stacey Hatch said.
The trio used code words to co-ordinate drug deliveries worth tens of millions of dollars, with Mafiti once texting Flower to ask: “what’s the weight of the jockey?”, the court heard.
When one plane arrived on April 15 with a bag full of cocaine, the 50-year-old allegedly texted Flower with a game score for New Zealand rugby union team the Canterbury Crusaders, which matched the last three digits of a container number the drugs were retrieved from, Ms Hatch said.
Flower’s lawyer told the court that a police allegation “based on some misinformation” that nearly $1 million in cash and casino chips was found at his home during raids last week was false.
Police wrongly claim that because Flower went bankrupt in the past there was “something sinister about his ownership of significant assets”, defence barrister Chris Watson said.
The lawyer addressed “a suggestion of unexplained wealth” by noting Flower part owns renowned sprinter Snitzel, who now stands at stud for $40 million per year and has won significant amounts of prize money.
But the investments of dozens of people who Flower co-owns horses with could be in jeopardy if he’s kept in custody, Mr Watson said.
Racing NSW has issued Flower with a show cause notice to argue his case against his ban but he won’t be able to front the industry body while he remains behind bars.
Mr Watson said there was a “real and urgent need for my client to be able to address concerns involving extremely valuable racehorses owned by a multitude of co owners.”
Flower has shares in more than 60 well-bred racehorses out of his Platinum Park complex at Hawkesbury racecourse and some of the state’s top horses could be held under court order by the NSW Crime Commission.
Any money that these horses win, that would normally have been pocketed by Flower, will now be frozen and held in a trust pending the outcome of his case.
Ms Hatch argued Flower could instruct and appoint people to run his business affairs while in custody.
Flower’s former wife Camilla told the court the divorcees now cohabitate in her home to care for their two daughters who battle chronic illness.
The Virgin Airlines hostess said Flower needs to be freed to help look after their eldest child Jade who suffers from auto-immune condition Hashimoto’s disease and 14-year-old Skye who has an inflammatory bowel disease known as ulcerative colitis.
But the prosecutor pointed out that Flower was absent from the family home for two years between 2009 and 2011 when his wife was the sole carer for the girls.
Mrs Flower last month gave evidence at the trial of her former boyfriend Roberto de Heredia, who was acquitted of planting a parcel bomb at a Sydney Penthouse which nearly killed personal trainer Brett Boyd.
The court heard Flower isn’t expected to face trial until the second half of 2020 to fight charges which carry a maximum penalty of life in prison — something giving him “significant motivation to flee the jurisdiction”, Ms Hatch said.
But Mr Watson said Flower could have extensive bail conditions including a night-time curfew, electronic monitoring while he would surrender his passport.
Ms Hatch admitted the strength of the prosecution case is “not overwhelmingly strong” for the first four charges, after Mr Watson said police don’t know exactly what was in four bags Mafiti removed from flights.
Magistrate Robert Williams reserved his decision until Thursday afternoon.
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