Jarrad Bridge: Ex-navy diver jailed with Michael Fraser, Graham Butt

A trio of rusted on mates who served side by side in the Australian Navy became caught up in a plot to bring 79kg of ice into the country hidden inside an industrial mixer.

An Australian Navy diver who was medically-discharged before turning to drugs and alcohol has been sentenced for his involvement in a 79kg ice importation.

Jarrad Leslie Bridge, 32, who once worked neutralising explosive weapons and devices, became embroiled in a drug plot with two of his ex-navy pals.

He worked with former navy-men Michael Fraser and Graham Butt as they moved an industrial mixer filled with drugs from a Sylvania garage, where it had been delivered from the US, to a Malabar home, where Butt’s bosses were based.

It was at the Malabar home where they were eventually arrested by police, the Downing Centre District Court heard on Friday.

Jarrad Bridge. Picture: Facebook

Fraser, who was last year sentenced to six years in jail for importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug, knew an industrial mixer – stocked with 105 times the commercial threshold of methamphetamine – was being delivered to Sydney, the court was told.

He went about recruiting friends to help out and approached Butt and Bridge who he knew from the navy.

Butt arranged for the use of a friend’s garage for the delivery of the shipment, the court heard.

On July 14 2019, Butt, Fraser and Bridge all met up at a hotel for lunch.

Fraser told Bridge to meet at the Sylvania garage two days later to help him with a consignment.

Fraser would be acting as a “spotter”, according to the facts read out in court.

Bridge claimed in his evidence that Fraser had told him about a package, but didn’t say what it was.

Bridge claimed he was merely asked to provide manual labour and “to help lift something big onto the back of a truck”, the court heard.

Bridge, who was unemployed at the time and receiving payments from the Department of Veteran Affairs, agreed to help his friend for a $2000 payout.

With that money, he was going to pay off a drug debt.

The court heard Bridge said in his evidence: “I knew something was not right ... (but) ignored that feeling”.

Bridge had a sense of loyalty to his long-time navy buddy Fraser, the court heard.

The plan, on July 16, was for the drugs to be unpacked from the industrial mixer and piled into plastic containers which Butt had purchased from Bunnings that day.

They were then to be driven to the Malabar home, where they were to be stored.

However, at the time, Fraser was unknowingly the target of a police operation.

Graham Butt. Picture: Facebook

Bridge claimed he only became aware the shipment contained drugs when he visited the Sylvania address that day, the court heard.

He said he had a suspicion they were dealing with drugs when Fraser asked him to put two 20kg containers into his car and drive them to Malabar, the court heard.

Bridge claimed that he tried to remove himself from the situation when at Malabar but was arrested by police before he could.

Michael Fraser. Picture: Facebook

Bridge was charged with and pleaded guilty to possessing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug.

Bridge, who joined the navy at 17, was medically discharged after eight years on physical and psychological grounds, including a physical disability from an accidental explosion, the court heard.

After leaving the army he struggled to fit back into civilian life, suffered PTSD, anxiety disorder and depression, which continued up until and during the offending.

He felt like the navy had turned its back on him and he self-medicated with alcohol and recreational drugs, the court heard.

Butt was last year sentenced to five years and six months for aiding and abetting Fraser and Bridge in the commercial importation of a border controlled drug.

On Friday, Bridge was sentenced to six years in prison, and will need to serve a minimum of three years and three months before he is eligible for release on parole.

He will be eligible for release in October next year.