Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson caught up in drug trafficking investigation
FOOTY great Mark “Bomber” Thompson has been questioned in relation to a drug trafficking investigation, as a man with bikie links was arrested following a raid on Thompson’s property.
Law & Order
Don't miss out on the headlines from Law & Order. Followed categories will be added to My News.
A TATTOOED man with alleged bikie links was staying at footy great Mark “Bomber” Thompson’s home before it was raided as part of a drug trafficking investigation.
Thomas Windsor, 28, had been in the absent Thompson’s Port Melbourne apartment, receiving many visitors in the period before detectives pounced last Friday morning.
BOMBER’S EX: ‘I JUST HOPE HE’S OK’
MARK THOMPSON SAYS ON OPEN MIKE HE REGRETS RETURNING TO ESSENDON
Mr Windsor, who is alleged to have links to the Rebels outlaw bikie gang, and another man with links to the Bandidos outlaw motorcycle gang, Karl “Bang Bang” Holt, were charged last week as part of the police investigation.
Thompson, a flag-winning Geelong coach and Essendon premiership player, was questioned and released on yesterday, pending further inquiries, after presenting himself to police.
His ex-wife, Jana Clack, former Cats president Frank Costa and former teammates said they feared for the 54-year-old’s wellbeing.
“I don’t know what he’s been up to for the past 2½ years,’’ Ms Clack said last night.
“I don’t know who he has been hanging around with … The silliest thing he ever did was leaving Geelong. It’s all gone downhill from there.”
Mr Windsor and Mr Holt face charges of trafficking a drug of dependence. The counts understood to be faced by Mr Windsor include charges of trafficking a commercial quantity of amphetamines, trafficking methamphetamine, ecstasy and MDMA.
A grim-faced Thompson declined to answer questions posed by the Herald Sun when he arrived home at the converted warehouse about 6.30 last night.
Thompson parked a black four-wheel drive a block away and ran down an alley and through a roller door at the rear of the converted warehouse. He appeared anxious before slamming the door shut.
This morning Thompson’s car was spotted leaving Port Melbourne.
His black 4WD was seen driving along Beach Street, a short distance from his home, shortly before 6am.
It is unclear how long Mr Windsor had been staying at the Rouse St property.
A neighbour said there had been a large number of people coming and going in the period before the police raid.
“We saw lots of people coming in and out very quickly. There were hot chicks coming in and out every day. They’d park their cars out the front of the warehouse.”
Those who have spoken to Thompson say he had allowed someone to stay at his converted Port Melbourne warehouse, and that person had been the target of the police operation.
“Bomber has got nothing to do with anything like this,’’ one said. “It was someone staying at his house … It’s someone staying there. It’s not him.
“I know it’s not Bomber … He’s in the clear.’’
The friend said Thompson had been on holiday and someone staying in the house for at least three days and “got him into this drama’’.
A Mill Park woman, 22, has also been charged.
All of those charged in the trafficking probe have been remanded in custody.
Mr Holt, known as Bang-Bang, has vehicle numberplates which say ONBA1L.
“No further arrests have been made and, as the investigation is continuing it would be inappropriate to comment any further at this stage,” Victoria Police said.
A battering ram was used to smash down the Rouse St property’s front door in Friday’s raid. An internal door was also smashed, and bags of evidence were removed.
The Herald Sun has also been told that police had information material they wanted to seize inside the property was “perishable’’.
It comes as former Geelong president Frank Costa said he noticed a significant change in Thompson in 2010 after his marriage broke down and he was secretly approached by Essendon mid-season to join the Bombers as James Hird’s senior assistant.
Costa was at the helm of Geelong when Thompson led the Cats to two premierships and said the dual stresses took a toll on the master coach.
“During 2010 a couple of things happened that affected Mark’s mental state,” Costa said.
“First thing that happened, he left his wife. His children wouldn’t talk to him — he’s got three children. So things were pretty tough on him mentally.
“At the same time he’d been approached by Essendon under the table to come and join Essendon and come and help James Hird in coaching the club.
“Then he left and went to Essendon and the worst thing that could have happened did happen when this Essendon drug saga blew up.
“Mark got fined $30,000 which he felt was terribly unfair on him and that put him into a more agitated state of mind than what it otherwise would have been.
BOMBER: I NEARLY WALKED AWAY FROM FOOTY
“I think a combination of all those things brought him into a state of mental anxiety that has been very detrimental to him overall. I think you can see in some of his interviews that he’s not his usual, normal, clear-thinking self.
“So I really feel disappointed for Mark because he is such a good fellow and he doesn’t deserve this.”
Thompson, who coached the Cats to premierships in 2007 and 2009, has previously stated that Essendon began to make inquiries about his availability for the 2011 season during June and July of 2010, which Thompson did not make Geelong officials aware of at the time.
The Cats finished second on the ladder in 2010 with a 17-5 record but went on to drop out of the premiership race with a 41-point preliminary final loss to Collingwood.
“Normally the Mark I’d known up until then would have come to Cookie (Geelong chief executive Brian Cook) or myself and put the cards on the table and if he’d done that we would have said, ‘Yes, you’ll go with our blessing at the end of this year as long as you have no more communication with them until our season’s over’,” Costa said.
“He didn’t do that and that would have been bothering him that he was having these discussions with them without letting Cookie and myself know because we’d had a very open and honest relationship right through until that point.”
Costa said he had not had contact with Thompson in recent days and held concerns for his welfare on the back of the raids.
“Mark Thompson is unfortunately going through a very tough period in his life,” Costa said.
“I’ve had a great relationship with Mark and I’m very pleased to see him anytime we come together.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen. We’ll have to wait until we find out.”
Victoria Police confirmed it executed a warrant at a converted warehouse in Rouse St, Port Melbourne, the home of the former Essendon champion and coach, on Friday.
Divisional response unit police from Geelong and Melbourne executed the warrant.
It is understood the probe began in Geelong before any links were made to Thompson’s property.
Thompson was fined $30,000 for his part in the 2012 Essendon supplements saga.
He has described himself as being “bitter and twisted’’ over the protracted scandal, blaming it for the breakdown of his marriage to second wife Jana.
Thompson, an astute businessman, last year made a reported $7 million after selling his stake in a farm at Armstrong Creek, near Mount Duneed, on the outskirts of Geelong.
The three-time premiership player’s career spanned 1983 to 1996, and he led Geelong to two premierships as coach in 2007 and 2009.
He stood in for James Hird to coach Essendon in 2014.
Thompson drove a black four-wheel drive past the Rouse St property just after 5.30pm on Monday before taking off down an alleyway.
Yesterday workers next door, who asked not to be named, said police had spent a large part of Friday at the address.
“We could see them coming in and out the whole day. They left about 5pm,” one man said.
“We didn’t see them taking anything, but they had gloves on and they were taking photos of things. There were quite a few police cars, including undercover cops.
“I don’t think he was home. I haven’t seen him for a while. He just comes in occasionally.”
Another neighbour, Steve, who did not want his surname published, said Thompson was not home when police arrived.
“The first eight cops had a battering ram and they just smashed his door down and went charging in. Then a second lot of eight cops went in and they smashed down another door inside. All they took out was a few evidence bags. They didn’t look big.
“From time to time, you see him. You only see his vehicle here every once and a while.
“He was here on Saturday, stayed the night, and cleaned up the area.”
Another said he had seen numerous visitors coming and going during the final two weeks of last year.
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MARK ‘BOMBER’ THOMPSON
• Born in Melbourne on November 19, 1963
• Joins Essendon, 1983
• Plays in Essendon’s 1984-1985 premierships
• Wins Bombers’ best- and-fairest, 1987 & 1990
• Appointed Essendon club captain in 1992, remaining skipper until he retired in 1995
• Captains Essendon’s “Baby Bombers” to the 1993 premiership
• Takes up assistant coach role at Essendon in 1997
• Becomes assistant coach to Denis Pagan at North Melbourne in 1999
• Appointed Geelong senior coach in 2000
• Coaches Geelong to premierships in 2007 & 2009
• Named All-Australian coach in 2007 & 2009
• Controversially quits Geelong to return to Essendon as assistant coach in November 2010
• Essendon “self reports’’ to ASADA and the AFL in February 2013, asking for investigation of concerns about inappropriate use of supplements during the 2012 season
• On August 13, 2013, along with senior Essendon coach James Hird, head of football Danny Corcoran and club doctor Bruce Reid, Thompson is charged with conduct likely to bring game into disrepute
•Two weeks later, Thompson is fined $30,000 over the supplements saga
•Takes over as Essendon senior coach for the 2014 season after Hird is banned for a year
• Departs Essendon at the end of the 2014 season after finals
• Becomes a special comments caller on Melbourne radio in 2015
• Says in 2016 he is lost without football and is ”sorry” for the Essendon supplements scandal
• Tells the Herald Sun in April 2017 he is ”bitter and twisted” about the scandal
• Strikes it rich in sale of land at Armstrong Creek, believed to have earned him $7 million last year
• Last week, Thomas Windsor and Karl Holt arrested and charged by police over drug offences
• Last Friday, police raid Thompson’s Port Melbourne house executing search warrant