Girlfriend of accused drug-dealing lawyer bailed to $350 per day rehab centre
The girlfriend of Anthony Grant, a lawyer accused of dealing drugs, has been bailed to a rehabilitation centre charging $350 per day.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
The girlfriend of accused drug-dealing barrister Anthony Grant has been bailed to a $350 a day drug rehabilitation centre.
Iranian hairdresser Atousa Amouzegar Haghighi, 34, and Mr Grant, 44, are facing serious drug trafficking charges after 12 litres of 1.4 butanediol – a precursor to party drug GHB – was allegedly uncovered during a raid of their Queens Rd apartment last month.
After a multi-day bail application at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court, Ms Haghighi was last week released on bail to private Geelong drug rehabilitation centre Habitat Therapeutics.
Police opposed her release, alleging Ms Haghighi – who is an identical triplet – was a heavy drug user and posed an unacceptable risk of continuing to use and deal drugs.
But Magistrate Rohan Lawrence granted bail, noting there were issues with the prosecution case related to drug purity which could make it difficult to prove the most serious charges.
If Ms Haghighi was ultimately convicted on a lesser charge, he said she faced the prospect of spending more time on remand than any prison sentence.
He released her on the condition she reside at Habitat Therapeutics, which the court heard costs $31,000 for a 90-day live-in program and would primarily be paid by her private health insurance.
The court heard Mr Grant and Ms Haghighi have been in a relationship since December 2023 after he represented her in court on meth trafficking charges which were laid a month earlier.
Both were inside their apartment when it was raided by police on August 8 this, with drugs including 12 litres of 1,4- Butanediol, methamphetamine, cocaine, ecstasy and ketamine and large amounts of erectile dysfunction medication allegedly uncovered.
Mr Grant claimed client legal privilege on her phone and tablet seized in the August drug raid, meaning police are yet to examine them for evidence.
Also inside the home was a prosthetic penis, often used to falsify urine drug tests.
Ms Haghighi, who had been on remand since her arrest, is charged with three counts of trafficking a commercial quantity of meth and 1.4 butanediol, three counts of possessing illicit drugs, possessing hallucinogens, possessing a schedule 4 poison, handling stolen goods and possessing ID information.
Mr Grant, a former state prosecutor who works as a criminal barrister from Owen Dixon Chambers, is facing 13 charges including trafficking a commercial quantity of 1.4 butanediol.
He remains behind bars on remand.
The pair will return to court on December 4.
Left to rot: ‘Gentlest’ teen Isla Bell’s brutal end
The horrific final moments of Brunswick teenager Isla Bell were captured on CCTV while her accused killer allegedly beat her on the kitchen floor of his apartment, before her body was stored in a fridge for weeks.
Four charged after major police sting nets huge cash, meth haul
Four men have been charged after police made a string of arrests among an alleged organised crime syndicate accused of importing liquid methamphetamine to prepare it for sale.