Blackwall: NRL star Nicho Hynes’ mum Julie found guilty of heroin supply
The mum of reigning Dally M winning halfback Nicho Hynes has been taken into custody after a jury handed down the verdict in her heroin supply trial.
Central Coast
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Julie Hynes will face sentence at a future date after a jury found the 50-year-old mother of NRL and Cronulla star Nicho Hynes guilty of one count of knowingly supplying heroin.
The 12-person jury took less than a day to deliberate after the Crown and the defence wrapped up their closing submissions on Wednesday.
The jury also found Hynes guilty of a number of “back up” charges including knowingly allowing her house to be used as a drug premises, possessing a small amount of cannabis and dealing with the proceeds of crime.
Prosecutor Peter Lowe said following the guilty verdict in the principal offence, the Crown may consider withdrawing one or more of the backup charges.
Following the jury’s guilty verdict Mr Lowe immediately lodged a detention application to have Hynes’ bail revoked.
The court heard she was “no stranger to going to jail” having served a minimum of 16 months in custody after being convicted of supplying nearly 100 ecstasy pills in 2007 and six months jail in 2004 for two counts of supplying drugs.
Hynes had also served the equivalent of eight months imprisonment for larceny in 2011.
The court heard she was initially refused bail following her arrest for these matters in 2021 and spent just over two months in custody before being granted conditional release.
Judge David Wilson granted the detention application stating there were no special or exceptional circumstances that prevented her from going to jail and that he formed the view she would receive a custodial sentence for these offences.
He adjourned Hynes to face a sentencing hearing on May 8.
Hynes’ co-accused Michael William Selvage, 59, however was found not guilty of one count of supplying heroin.
The court heard Hynes rang Triple 0 on May 25, 2021, after a family friend Luke Murphy, 29, suffered an accidental drug overdose and died in the living room of her granny flat on Commonwealth Ave, Blackwall.
The jury was told that Murphy had been at Hynes’ house to use an industrial-strength hydraulic press to package 11 bricks of heroin — each weighing about 360g and worth between $60,000-$70,000.
The court heard the only problem was Murphy became overwhelmed by the drug, which entered his bloodstream via the mucous membrane of his nose and throat, triggering a toxic reaction.
Mr Selvage also reported feeling unwell and went to lie down in Hynes’ double bed.
Murphy could not be revived and an autopsy later concluded he died from “heroin toxicity”.
Neither Hynes or Mr Selvage were accused of being responsible for Mr Murphy’s death.
Hynes told ambulance officers she found Murphy unresponsive when she got home and called for help.
However the court heard phone records showed she had been home all night and only went out in the morning to buy a “big breakfast”.
Mr Selvage told police he got a call from Hynes the night before and only went around to her place believing he was going to get “a root”, which never eventuated.
He said he went into the bathroom to use the toilet and saw white powder “everywhere” before he used a dustpan to sweep it up.
Hynes’ defence barrister Brian Murray told the jury there was no evidence of how the huge hydraulic press had come to be in her tiny bathroom or that she had any knowledge Murphy was using it to press heroin into bricks.
However Hynes’ fingerprints were found on the machine and the jury found, beyond reasonable doubt, she not only knew what Murphy was up to but actively assisted him.
Hynes will face a detention application this afternoon.
Mr Selvage was found not guilty of any offence by the jury and formally discharged by Judge David Wilson.
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