Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson turned away from Melbourne immigration detention centre

TROUBLED football great Mark “Bomber” Thompson was turned away from an immigration detention centre after trying to visit an inmate involved in drugs and sex work.

Thompson was turned away from an immigration detention centre after trying to visit an inmate. Picture: Wayne Ludbey

TROUBLED football great Mark “Bomber” Thompson was turned away from an immigration detention centre after trying to visit an inmate involved in drugs and sex work.

The Herald Sun can reveal Thompson arrived at the Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre late last year, where he was recognised by staff and visitors.

The former star player and coach was seeking to visit a foreign-born criminal who was awaiting deportation after being linked to drugs and “sex work-type activities”, according to sources.

THOMPSON CAUGHT UP IN DRUG TRAFFICKING INVESTIGATION

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One source said Thompson was delivering a “pink case” to the inmate, but he was turned away by security guards before he could enter.

It is not clear why he was rejected.

Thompson outside his Port Melbourne home. Picture: Ian Currie

The revelation comes after Thompson was swept up in an ongoing Victoria Police investigation into drug-trafficking last week, with officers raiding his converted warehouse in Port Melbourne.

Family, friends and former teammates have raised concerns for the wellbeing of the former Essendon captain who coached Geelong to two premierships.

BOMBER SAYS HE’S STILL CONSUMED BY SUPPLEMENT SCANDAL

Immigration detention is used to lock up “high-risk unlawful non-citizens” who do not have a valid visa and are awaiting deportation. Authorities consider whether an individual presents a risk to the Australian community before they are detained.

Under Australian Border Force rules, anyone who visits an immigration detention facility must go through a strict security screening process.

The Maribyrnong Immigration Detention Centre. Picture: Brendan Francis

Thompson at Essendon’s best and fairest in 2014. Picture: Mark Stewart

This may include substance detection methods, including the use of detector dogs, and visitors may have their belongings X-rayed. Visitors can also be turned away if they are “under the influence of alcohol or drugs”.

Thompson declined to comment in his involvement in the drug-trafficking investigation on Thursday, when he emerged from his home on a bike about 11am.

He appeared relaxed as he rode from his Rouse St home with a black satchel across his back.

Thompson handed himself into police voluntarily on Tuesday and was questioned and released without charge.

However, Thomas Windsor, 28, who is understood to have been living at Thompson’s converted warehouse, has been charged with trafficking a drug of dependence.

Friends say Thompson was calm the night before police raided his home and had made no reference to problems with a tenant.

Police during a raid on Thompson’s Port Melbourne property.

Windsor is alleged to have links to the Rebels bikie gang. Another man, Karl Holt — who is alleged to have links to the Bandidos bikie gang — was also charged with trafficking a drug of dependence in the investigation.

Thompson has spoken about how the Essendon supplements scandal consumed him.

Fined $30,000 for his role in the saga, he said he was “bitter and twisted” and blamed the issue for the breakdown of his second marriage.

Thomas Windsor has been charged by police. Picture: Supplied

“It just sits in my guts and churns ... People tell me I’ve got to let it go, but I can’t,” he said.

Thompson’s ex-wife Jana Clack, former Cats president Frank Costa and ex-teammates have been among those to raise concerns about the 54-year-old’s welfare in recent days.

“I don’t know what he’s been up to for the past 2½ years,’’ Ms Clack said this week.

“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.”

Former Essendon coach James Hird also struggled in the aftermath of the doping saga and was rushed to hospital a year ago after a suspected drug overdose.

Hird spent five weeks in a psychiatric facility, saying later that he had reached “breaking point” and was battling depression.

He thanked his family for their support and said he was an “extremely lucky man to get a second chance”.

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