Qld train driver Luke Michael Bowen busted with cocaine in Bundaberg

His lawyer asked the court to find him “drug dependent” which the Supreme court judge said was “a frightening prospect”. Read the outcome here.

Queensland train driver Luke Michael Bowen was busted with cocaine in Bundaberg, pictured leaving Rockhampton courthouse after being sentenced in the Supreme Court.

A Queensland train driver told police he was using up to an eight-ball of cocaine a week when they busted him possessing 50 grams of the illicit substance.

Luke Michael Bowen, 36, was purchasing cocaine in bulk, the Supreme Court in Rockhampton heard on June 2.

Justice Graeme Crow said Bowen was buying about $8,000 worth of cocaine at a time and the amount of cocaine he was busted possessing had a street value of $20,000.

Bowen was busted possessing 50.091 grams of powder with 11.971 grams of pure cocaine in it on August 17, 2023, at his Bundaberg residence.

Bowen’s defence barrister Anthony Kimmins submitted his client was drug dependent at the time.

“It’s a frightening prospect to make a finding he’s drug dependent yet he drives trains,” Justice Crow said.

Crown prosecutor Joshua Phillips pointed to the Drugs Misuse Act’s definition of a “drug dependent person” means a person— (a) who, as a result of repeated administration to the person of dangerous drugs— (i) demonstrates impaired control; or (ii) exhibits drug-seeking behaviour that suggests impaired control; over the person’s continued use of dangerous drugs; (b) who, when the administration to the person of dangerous drugs ceases, suffers or is likely to suffer mental or physical distress or disorder.

Mr Kimmins said it was the police who referred his client to a rehabilitation centre “to assist with the curbing of his habit” where he was treated for alcohol abuse disorder and substance abuse disorder.

Bowen attended the private rehab centre from September 14 to October 9.

Justice Crow asked if train drivers were drug tested randomly by their employers, to which Mr Kimmins replied yes, “that’s an example of what happened last year.”

“He did not use any alcohol or substances leading up to a relapse, which occurred in Canberra,” Mr Kimmins said.

“If he’s abstinent whilst driving (trains), which I will infer he is because he’s regularly tested as they should be because the job’s so important, that it sort of goes and flies in the face of drug dependency,” Justice Crow said.

Mr Kimmins said Bowen started using cocaine heavily after the “estrangement from his wife” and children in 2019.

The court heard after his relapse, he went back to rehab for two more weeks.

Bowen pleaded guilty to one count of possessing more than two grams of a schedule one drug and was sentenced to a three-year prison term with immediate release on parole.

Originally published as Qld train driver Luke Michael Bowen busted with cocaine in Bundaberg