Ex-soldier Cassidy Burger caught drug dealing, carrying fake cash, weapons
A former soldier who served in Afghanistan fronted up to a Heidelberg police station to report for bail for drug and aggravated burglary offences — in a stolen car loaded with drugs, ammunition and cash.
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A former soldier who served in Afghanistan took a knife into a police station after parking a stolen car loaded with drugs, ammunition and cash out the front.
He was checking in as part of his bail conditions, after committing an aggravated burglary and being caught with another stolen car full of drugs and a heap of cash — some fraudulent — just weeks earlier.
Cassidy Burger’s lawyer told Heidelberg Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, April 23, her client’s heavy drug use meant he wasn’t aware of his actions when he committed the various offences.
But Magistrate Stephen Ballek was not impressed
“You’ve got to be kidding,” he said.
“He knows exactly what he’s doing — he’s trafficking drugs.”
The court heard when Burger went into Heidelberg police station on March 23 he left a stolen Isuzu which had fake number plates in a no standing zone outside.
Inside the car police found about five grams of methamphetamine, 800ml of GHB, a gram of MDMA, various LSD and prescription medication tablets, scales, ammunition, knuckle dusters, $2700 cash and a power drill.
They then found four vials of steroids when they searched his Heidelberg Heights home the next day.
Senior Constable Matt Isaac told the court police made a similar find about 9am on February 24 in the carpark of Hungry Jacks Preston after staff called police about Burger trying to pay with a fake $50 note.
Police found Burger with a stolen car bearing fake number plates and containing three bottles of GHB, a jar of pills labelled ‘Xanax’, methamphetamine, a set of scales, zip lock bags and $2825 cash, with some of the notes believed to be fake.
The court heard he and an accomplice also broke into a house on Miller St, West Melbourne where three women were sleeping early on February 7.
The pair removed glass panels to get in, before Burger stole bottles of alcohol and a packet of hot cross buns.
The 29-year-old pleaded guilty to all the charges against him, having been held in custody for 35 days.
The court heard Burger was suffering from PTSD and major depressive disorder after working as a combat engineer for the army in Afghanistan, which traumatised him so much his discharge from the army was fast tracked.
Burger’s lawyer said the father of two was an inpatient at the Austin Hospital just before his offending in January, with his flashbacks to explosions and dead bodies stopping him from sleeping.
She said he was unable to get the same level of treatment and medication in custody.
Mr Ballek said Burger had committed very serious offending, and his sentence needed to deter others from similar offending.
But he noted Burger had no criminal history and had pleaded guilty as soon as possible.
He ordered the veteran be released on April 24 on a 12-month community corrections order, including treatment and rehabilitation, and cancelled his licence and fined him $500 for the counterfeit money.
Mr Ballek said Burger’s 35 days in custody had been during a very difficult time, and that he would have ordered Burger to six months’ jail if he hadn’t pleaded guilty.
“I hope this can be a line in the sand, and you can move forward without committing further offences,” he said.
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