Ex-AFL star Sam Fisher gets two weeks of freedom before being locked up
Disgraced ex-AFL star Sam Fisher has been given two weeks of bail by a judge amid teary court scenes before he faces jail time for trafficking drugs.
Police & Courts
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Disgraced ex-AFL star and confessed drug trafficker Sam Fisher has gained another fortnight of freedom before being thrown behind bars as he wiped away tears in an emotional court appearance.
The 41-year-old — showered with support from St Kilda Football Club, the AFL Players’ Association, friends and family who handed up letters to the judge — brought a suitcase to the County Court on Monday as he expected to be put in the clink.
But Judge Gerard Mullaly said he was unable to sentence Fisher following his pleas of guilty to six drug charges after his lawyers handed up a pile of fresh character references, including from his old football club, where he played 228 games.
His Honour said he was troubled by Fisher’s mental health, which the court was told had spiralled into major depressive disorder after he learned he’d be jailed for at least three years for trafficking more than a kilo of drugs interstate.
“I’m going to grant you bail, which is unusual given, you know, unfortunately the sentence has to be imposed,” Judge Mullaly told Fisher.
“He seems robust enough ... I have no doubt he won’t try to escape to foreign lands or something.”
His Honour told the ex-defender to “do what you need to do” to ensure his mental health stayed on track and to “rely on others when it gets difficult in the next couple of weeks”, before adjourning his sentence to May 16.
It comes after Fisher last week enjoyed a beer with a bunch of his former teammates, some of whom had their own brushes with the law, including Robert Eddy who had charges dropped of assaulting a woman, and Stephen Milne who had rape charges withdrawn before pleading guilty to indecent assault.
Fisher faces a maximum five years and four months’ jail with a minimum of three years following guilty pleas to six drug offences after police seized of a kilo of drugs shipped to WA in an oven rangehood in May 2022, then raided his Sandringham home finding more than 1800g of 1,4-Butanediol, 9g of meth and 2990mg of LSD.
Earlier, Fisher wiped away tears as the court was told his parents — who supported him in the public gallery — have been left in financial distress after they helped foot his legal bills, and were unlikely to ever be paid back cash they gave him for a property development, due to proceeds of crime forfeiture rules.
Meanwhile, the court heard Fisher’s partner and their daughter, 9, were “not going to be able to stay where they’re living” after he’s jailed.
Fisher, with a trembling chin, grabbed a tissue and wiped his eyes from where he sat in the dock, as defence barrister Dermot Dann KC explained how his client was “very, very concerned” about the situation faced by his loved ones.
Mr Dann said Fisher “didn’t expect to go to jail”, despite his crimes carrying a maximum of life behind bars with an average of 16 years, and had spiralled into depression after learning that was the case.
The defence barrister said Fisher’s “way of dealing with things” was in “leaning on (the mentality) of his football days, just think about the process, don’t think about what’s coming next”.
“It’s a category one offence, we’ve got no choice, parliament took that away,” Judge Mullaly replied.
Mr Dann said Fisher had committed his crimes against a backdrop of using drugs as a “distraction or self harm mechanism” after he felt a sense of displacement and loss of identity after leaving the AFL, had difficulty getting a job and faced “overwhelming stress” over a property development he’d been managing in Frankston.
He said his client’s involvement with drugs had “ruined his life, and that’s his message, and he’s trying to save others from that sad situation”.
Fisher did not respond to media questions when he left the County Court, where he will return to be taken into custody on May 16.
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