Actor Vince Colosimo spared conviction on drug possession charge
ON the big screen actor Vince Colosimo played the tough guy, but when police found him with a bag of the deadly drug ice, his hands were shaking like a schoolboy caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
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ON the big screen actor Vince Colosimo played the tough guy, but when police found him with a bag of the deadly drug ice, his hands were shaking like a schoolboy caught with his hand in the cookie jar.
The 50-year old faced the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court where he pleaded guilty to one charge of possessing methamphetamine.
Colosimo hit the big time as gangland boss Alphonse Gangitano in TV’s Underbelly.
His barrister, Tara Hartnett, told the court her client’s arrest had hit home hard.
“You’re not dealing with an unintelligent person … there is nothing glamorous about being put in a divisional van,” she said.
The court heard Colosimo had been out cruising the streets with a mate in the early hours of the morning of September 26 last year when he drew police attention.
Police patrolling Fitzroy North took an interest in his blue SAAB and pulled him over near Barkly St.
When officers looked inside, they saw Colosimo hiding something in the footwell. Police said he looked nervous and his hands were shaking.
The court heard the officers saw a jet lighter in the footwell — the kind used by drug users on ice pipes.
When asked to get out of the car, Colosimo complied, but his attempt to dump a green bag in the passenger side did not go unnoticed. Inside, police found a glasses case containing a bag of the drug.
The court heard Colosimo made full admissions to possessing the drug, declaring it was ice and he was a user.
While Ms Hartnett accepted Colosimo had used the drug, she claimed his use was “less than sporadic”.
She asked the court to spare her client from a conviction because it would ruin his career as an actor.
Colosimo was placed on a good behaviour bond for 12 months without conviction and asked to contribute $1000 to the court fund.
Before the hearing, Colosimo told the Herald Sun of his devastation at being charged.
“This has been a wake-up call,” he said. “I have two beautiful children, whom I love more than anything in the world, and I want to be a good role model to them.”
