Brad Thompson: Wellington drug syndicate member sentenced

A drug dealing dad wept in court as he told of the moment he found out his father left his mother with burns to 98 per cent of her body.

A drug dealer with a “lengthy criminal history” has told a court his crime days are over following the deaths of his parents in a suspected murder-suicide in the NSW central west.

Bradley Peter James Thompson appeared via audiovisual link from the Junee jail to give evidence at his sentencing hearing in the District Court at Dubbo on Friday.

Wellington man Brad Thompson wept as he gave evidence in court. Picture: Facebook/Brianna Lee Meizer

The 28-year-old father of two previously pleaded guilty to criminal group participation, drug supply and shortened firearm possession charges which stemmed from his involvement in a well known drug syndicate police dismantled in May 2020.

The syndicate facilitated the transfer of large amounts of ice, heroin and MDMA from Sydney to Wellington, where it was then sold on to drug users across western NSW.

According to a statement of agreed facts, which Judge Nanette Williams described as “scant”, Thompson helped the alleged syndicate boss, his brother Kyle, deliver drugs and collect cash payments between June 2019 and April 2020.

Through use of secret phone taps, police heard Thompson agree to supply 3.5 grams of ice to several women.

On multiple occasions between October and December 2019 he was heard discussing the payment of drug money into bank accounts and when police raided his home in January 2020 a shortened rifle was found wrapped in plastic bags inside a Louis Vuitton handbag which was hidden in a bin.

Brad Thompson’s older brother Kyle (pictured) was the alleged kingpin of the drug syndicate. Picture: Facebook

During Thompson’s sentencing hearing he told the court about his troubled childhood and a series of family tragedies which purportedly left him a changed man.

“I seen a lot of smashing walls, a lot of drinking, smoking drugs and I just wasn’t stable at one place for a period of time,” Thompson said.

The death of a brother in 2014 saw Thompson develop more severe drug and alcohol problems.

“My brother, he lived in Dubbo at the time and he played football for Wellington, and he worked with Maas industries in Dubbo,” Thompson said.

“He travelled down to our parent’s place, went to training and stayed the night. He must have got into an argument with his wife … he had to travel back to Dubbo and he was under the influence of alcohol and drugs and he must have fell asleep behind the wheel.

“He’s had an accident … from there on in it’s took a big toll on my life. From there on in I started using drugs heavier to shut-out my emotions.”

Brad Thompson appeared in court via audiovisual link from Junee jail.

Cannabis and ice were Thompson’s drugs of choice, but the court also heard he took heroin as well.

As the drug use continued, Thompson notched up what Judge Williams said was a “lengthy criminal history”, with convictions for common assault, driving offences, breaching an apprehended violence order, police pursuits, drug supply and intimidation.

Thompson wept as he recalled a day in November 2020, when while in custody he got a call from his partner to say “your mum and dad’s been in an accident”.

“She said to me that ‘your mum was burnt, she’s got 98 per cent burns all over her body and your dad’s gone and [committed suicide],” Thompson recalled.

“I rang my brother and he said ‘dad burnt mum’. That’s what the police were telling them.

“They found bottles of petrol in his car.”

Thompson said he initially could not believe what happened to his parents, Lyn Helen Thompson and Alan Leslie Fletcher.

“I didn’t know why it happened and I can’t get myself around why it happened.

“I don’t know the truth and I’m never going to know the truth because of where I’m at.”

Strike Force Pinnacle was set up to infiltrate and dismantle the drug syndicate. Alleged offenders are pictured being transferred to Dubbo Police Station after they were arrested in Wellington in May 2020. Picture: NSW Police

While Mrs Thompson clung to life in a burns unit at Sydney’s Royal North Shore Hospital, Thompson said the last time he saw her alive was through a video phone call.

“She was full of bandages.

“Then the nurse told me that she was starting to get an infection all through her body and they had to take more layers of skin off her.”

After Mrs Thompson passed away a funeral was held in Wellington, however Thompson said despite attempts to get released on bail he was not able to attend and had to watch the funeral over the phone.

“I did everything I could,” he said.

“It felt like I let them down in a way, I wasn’t there for them.”

The incident led Thompson to turn his back on a life of crime, he said.

“I made a promise to my parents’ and said ‘this is it’.

“I’ve lost too much now. That’s the end of that life for me.”

Thompson said a chaplain in jail helped him cope with grief.

“He’s done his best to comfort me through that period of time,” Thompson said.

“He’s kept me in the right frame of mind to push forward. He told me to focus on my children now.”

Dubbo District Court Judge Nanette Williams said a “scant” statements of facts prepared by prosecutors made it harder for the court to assess the objective seriousness of Brad Thompson’s offending. Picture: Ryan Young

The court also heard Thompson worked his way up in jail to become head baker, a role which he collects $70 a week for performing.

Judge Williams said Thompson’s life had been dominated by a “cycle of tragic losses, his poor mental health, substance use and crime” which reached the point of no return when his parents died “apparently by way of a murder suicide”

“He was exposed to domestic and family violence, to drug use from an early age and related drug dependence and dysfunction,” she said.

“The impact of social deprivation does not diminish over time.”

Despite Thompson’s “entrenched” history of drug use, Judge Williams said there were positive signs that he could be rehabilitated.

“He’s very positive work ethic is very impressive to this court.

“If the offender accepts the agencies that will be able to assist him in his rehabilitation … denounces contact with any of his former anti-social cohorts and ensures that he maintains a drugs free life I am of the view there can be very positive prospects for rehabilitation.”

Thompson was convicted and sentenced to three year and eight months in jail, backdated to September 2020.

He becomes eligible for parole in April 2022.

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