Bomber Thompson charged over drug raid on his Port Melbourne home
AFL legend Mark “Bomber” Thompson remains inside his Port Melbourne apartment after being granted bail on drug trafficking charges. Thompson last night sprinted from court after being released on bail and said he was hopeful he would get the chance to fight the charges.
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AFL legend Mark “Bomber” Thompson remains holed up in his Port Melbourne apartment after being granted bail on drug trafficking charges.
Thompson last night sprinted from court after being released on bail and said he was hopeful he would get the chance to fight the charges.
This morning the Essendon great has remained inside his apartment.
Thompson was yesterday arrested and charged with seven counts of drug trafficking and possession after police said they had found his home littered with illicit substances including ice, ecstasy, LSD, and ephedrine.
The premiership coach and player sat slumped forward, his head buried in his hands, as the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court heard that his Port Melbourne converted warehouse was also strewn with drug paraphernalia, including ice pipes, digital scales, deal bags, and prescription drugs.
Later, in dramatic scenes, Mr Thompson sprinted from court on being released on $20,000 bail.
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He was freed by the magistrate even though police opposed bail, arguing that he was a flight risk.
“Mr Thompson has access to a large amount of funds, and a yacht as well,” Detective Senior Constable Naomi Bourke told the court.
Mr Thompson’s ex-wife, Annette, and his daughter Lauren had watched from the public gallery as he was brought into the courtroom, flanked by two security guards, shortly after 4 o’clock on Tuesday afternoon.
Sen-Det Bourke told the court that police had seized large amounts of drugs including ice, ecstasy and LSD during a raid on Mr Thompson’s property on January 5. Officers say they seized 839.7 grams of MDMA, 134.6 grams of tablets also believed to be of MDMA, and 33.1 grams of ice.
They said they also found other bags containing significant quantities of drugs, scattered around the property, along with drug paraphernalia including digital scales, ice pipes, deal bags and prescription drugs.
And police say they seized handwritten notes detailing “large amounts of money transactions” between Mr Thompson and co-accused Thomas Windsor, 28, who was leasing part of the property from Mr Thompson.
Geelong detectives arrested him on Tuesday and took him into custody.
Defence barrister David Hallowes, SC, said: “The charges of trafficking will be vigorously defended. It’s submitted even if he is convicted, he will receive no immediate jail term.”
The court heard that police interviewed Mr Thompson in January, soon after which he left for the United States to visit his adult son. He has two ex-wives and three children.
Mr Thompson agreed to surrender his passport, but Mr Hallowes said he may need to travel interstate: “He still occasionally does some work in relation to the AFL industry. It is not something that is a regular aspect now.”
Reserve magistrate Leonard Brear granted Mr Thompson bail on condition he not use drugs, reside in his Port Melbourne warehouse, surrender his passport, report to police three times a week, and inform authorities if he has to travel interstate on business.
He was also ordered not to associate with co-accused including Mr Windsor, Katia Drcec, and Karl “Bang Bang” Holt, and had to provide a $20,000 surety to secure bail.
Asked if he understood conditions of his bail, Mr Thompson said: “Yes sir”. It was the only thing he said during the 80-minute hearing.
Mr Thompson left the court, alone, at 6.15pm.
He said it had been “a long day” and he was hopeful he would get the chance to fight the charges against him.
When pressed about the allegations against him, Mr Thompson replied that he “had nothing to say”.
He then broke into a sprint to flee the large media pack.
He has been ordered to reappear at the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on May 25.
DRUGS FOUND IN BOMBER’S ROOM, COURT HEARS
It comes after Victoria Police confirmed a 54-year-old Port Melbourne man had been arrested and charged with a number of offences.
The charges are trafficking ecstasy, trafficking methylamphetamine, possessing amphetamine, possessing ecstasy, possessing LSD and possessing prescription drug without prescription.
Explosive details about the Port Melbourne raid were aired in Geelong on Tuesday as Thomas Windsor, who was living with Mr Thompson, applied for bail. Police opposed his bid to be released.
Mr Windsor, 28, is facing multiple charges including counts of trafficking commercial quantities of amphetamine and ice, as well as trafficking ecstasy.
A Geelong court was told that ecstasy tablets and ice pipes were found in Mr Thompson’s locked bedroom during the January raid.
Divisional Response Unit detective Naomi Bourke said it appeared Mr Thompson and Mr Windsor had their own bedrooms, while other parts of the home were shared.
A rental agreement found during the raid indicated Mr Windsor — who was arrested driving a rental car paid for by Mr Thompson — was paying rent of $300 a week, the court heard.
Sen-Det Bourke said a search of Mr Thompson’s locked bedroom uncovered digital scales, multiple clear resealable bags and Xanax tablets — alongside the ecstasy tablets and ice pipes.
The court heard Mr Thompson’s DNA was found on the drugs in his bedroom and a separate package of drugs in a mezzanine area containing ice and amphetamines.
Mr Thompson’s home came to police attention as part of an investigation into Karl “Bang Bang” Holt, who is also charged.
Mr Thompson told the Herald Sun soon after the raid that a bikie had moved into the property and wouldn’t leave.
Mr Thompson said the tenant had only recently moved in, but said it was not a standard tenancy arrangement.
“They just moved in, you just can’t get rid of them,” he said.
When asked whether those arrested at the Rouse St apartment were living there full time, he said: “On and off, on and off, he just comes in when he wants. He just used to ... do whatever he wanted.”
Mr Thompson’s warehouse home has two living areas, an upstairs and downstairs flat, and it’s believed Windsor was living in a separate area.
ESSENDON DRUGS SAGA LEFT BOMBER ‘BITTER, TWISTED’
Mr Thompson, who earned three flags playing for Essendon and two as coach of Geelong, quit his Fox Footy commitments this year.
He had been a regular feature on AFL 360 with his “Bomber Diaries” segment.
During a stellar 202-game playing career, Mr Thompson captained the Bombers from 1992 to 1995, leading them to the 1993 premiership.
He then coached Geelong for 260 games, including the 2007 and 2009 flags.
Mr Thompson returned to Essendon as assistant coach under James Hird but the club became engulfed in the supplements crisis that would eventually see players suspended for a year and Mr Thompson himself fined $30,000.
He then led the team as coach in 2014 when Hird was dismissed.
But the turmoil that surrounded his second stint at Essendon left the club great “bitter and twisted”, with Mr Thompson saying of the four-year drug saga: “It’s probably going to end up killing me”.
“I’m quite bitter and twisted and I think I have got the right to be. I don’t like the game any more, I don’t want to work in the AFL system, I don’t want to associate with people.
“I’m sorry, but that’s the way it is,” he said at a drugs in sport forum, organised by the Law Institute of Victoria, last year.
“I’ve lost my love for it, which is a shame because I’m a bloody good coach. It’s a shame they could do this to people. They’ve got no right to do this to people — you don’t not give people a chance to defend themselves, and that’s what they’ve done.
“I lost my wife because of it, I reckon, because I was up at night reading about all my exploits on the internet, catching up on tomorrow’s news as it came out.”
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