Bradley McLean: Bali hotel owner, Avalon man sold cocaine, ‘smack’ to northern beaches locals

An Avalon Beach man, who owns a hotel in Bali, has been caught selling cocaine and heroin to northern beaches locals to help pay for his own ‘smack’ addiction.

Bradley McLean outside Manly Local Court on Wednesday. Picture: NewsLocal

A man who owns a hotel in Bali, and spends six months of the year on the Indonesian holiday island, has been busted selling cocaine and heroin to customers on Sydney’s northern beaches.

Bradley McLean, 66, who lives between his home at Avalon Beach and his “Three Monkeys” resort near Denpasar, sold small bags of the prohibited drug to fund his own lengthy drug addiction.

Northern Beaches Police raided McLean’s Avalon house on April 17, accompanied by a drug detection dog, before discovering a 31g of cocaine hidden in a bag of sand stored in the garage.

Officers also found six small resealable bags of heroin, each containing 0.3g of the powder, as well as a set of portable scales, gloves, more resealable plastic bags and mobile phones, Manly Local Court heard on Wednesday.

A Motorola phone, which contained the encrypted “Threema” messaging app, was seized.

Bradley McLean, who will be assessed for possible home detention. Picture: Manly Daily

When officers opened the app they discovered text messages from a contact listed as “Jodie”, who had sent text messages on April 12 and 15, according to a police fact sheet tendered in court.

“Morning Hun, could you plz drop 1’5 in my mail in 15”, the first message read.

The second message read “Morning Hun, can you please drop off 100”.

McLean pleaded guilty to two counts of supplying a prohibited drug, and one charge of possessing a prohibited drug.

Text messages from drug customers were found on Bradley McLean’s encrypted mobile phone. File picture: Tri Nuryanto

The court heard McLean had an on-and-off-again heroin addiction, which began decades ago.

He relapsed into using the drug in December last year.

“He’s ashamed, but he’s struggled for many years,” his solicitor told magistrate Lisa Stapleton.

The court was told McLean spends three months at a time in Bali, where he works seven days a week at the hotel in which he has majority ownership along with a local family.

His solicitor said the 66-year-old lived alone at Avalon, had been suffering with depression, and was selling drugs to fund his addiction.

“It’s a situation of self-medicating,” the solicitor said.

In sentencing McLean, Ms Stapleton said that by selling the cocaine and heroin “to individuals, he is sharing the pernicious influence” of the illegal drugs.

“It shreds the social fabric. It destroys the capacity of people to work … and it’s a burden on the community.”

McLean was convicted.

For supplying heroin, he was handed a community correction order, to be of good behaviour for two years, and fined $2200.

He was fined another $550 for possessing the drugs.

Ms Stapleton did not sentence McLean on what she described as the most serious charge, which related to the supply of 31g of cocaine. She ordered that he be assessed by parole authorities for possible home detention before she passed sentence.

McLean is due back in Manly court on October 9.