Anthony Grant, barrister at Owen Dixon Chambers in Melbourne, facing drug trafficking charges
The fate of a drug-abusing Melbourne criminal barrister and former state prosecutor hangs in the balance after police allegedly uncovered illicit drugs and a prosthetic penis during a raid on his apartment.
Police & Courts
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The fate of a drug-abusing criminal barrister and former state prosecutor hangs in the balance as he spends his fourth weekend in a high-security prison charged with drug trafficking.
Anthony Grant, a barrister at Owen Dixon Chambers in Melbourne’s CBD, went for bail in the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Friday on 13 charges including trafficking a commercial quantity of 1,4-Butanediol and possessing drugs including methamphetamine, cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine.
The charges followed a raid on the 44-year-old’s Queens Rd apartment on August 8 in which police allegedly uncovered 12 litres of 1,4- Butanediol – used as a source for GHB – 355 tablets and 322 jelly packs of the erectile dysfunction medicine Sildenafil, sold as Viagra, illicit drugs and a prosthetic penis, which can be used to falsify urine drug tests.
The barrister’s girlfriend, Iranian woman Atousa Amouzegar Haghighi, 34, was also charged and remanded on three counts of trafficking a commercial quantity of drugs, three counts of possessing illicit drugs, possessing hallucinogenics, possessing a schedule 4 poison, handling stolen goods and possessing ID information.
The court heard Mr Grant, locked up in solitary confinement at Melbourne Assessment Prison, has a years-long drug issue, with his driver’s licence suspended after he was allegedly caught driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol last December.
He is currently suspended at Owen Dixon Chambers and faces a significant jail term if convicted.
The court heard police had to remove Mr Grant from his home during the drugs raid as he refused to stop communicating with his girlfriend, directing her to “stay silent” and informing her of her legal rights.
He later claimed “legal professional privilege” on several seized phones, meaning they have not yet been analysed by police.
During his bail application, Mr Grant repeatedly halted proceedings to instruct the cross-examination of the police informant by his lawyer, Richard Jakobsen of Sarah Pratt & Associates.
Mr Jakobsen told the court his client was “ashamed” of himself but had an explanation which “could exonerate” him.
Details of the accused barrister’s “narrative” were aired in closed court without the presence of the media.
“It’s very clear that Mr Grant has difficulties with substance abuse over the past few years,” Mr Jakobsen said.
“He is ashamed to find himself in the position he is in.
“My client has put forward a narrative which could exonerate him from what has occurred.”
The prosecutor raised doubts about the claim, arguing Mr Grant should remain in custody as he poses an “unacceptable risk” to public safety and welfare.
“He holds a position of standing in the community and as such is trusted and may use that to his benefit to continue offending,” the prosecutor said.
Magistrate Timothy Bourke will make his bail decision on Monday.
Mr Grant previously worked for the Office of Public Prosecutions and in 2014 won a Federal Circuit Court battle over his sacking, claiming it came about because of mental illness.
The court ordered he be reinstated and paid $93,750 in compensation.
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