AFL great Mark "Bomber" Thompson has avoided jail and been cleared of drug trafficking allegations after police seized 481 ecstasy pills and ice during a raid of his Melbourne home.
But Thompson, who fell from "a lengthy and illustrious career in football" to a "very low point in his life" has been convicted of the lesser crimes of drug possession and slapped with $3500 in fines.
The former Essendon captain and Geelong coach must also serve a 12-month community corrections order, which will force him to undergo treatment to clean up his drug problem.
On Thursday, Melbourne magistrate Duncan Reynolds said although he dismissed Thompson's three trafficking charges, he found the 55-year-old guilty of four counts of drug possession including MDA, ice, LSD and Xanax.
The raid in January last year uncovered hundreds of MDA pills in a bag kept in locked room connected to Thompson's bedroom.
Police also found a locked box containing ice, Xanax and an LSD tab, along with equipment including scales.
Last month, Thompson admitted he started smoking ice in 2017 to cope with the loss of his career following the Essendon club's supplements saga.
He said everything he believed about the AFL was ruined when he was charged in 2013 by the league for bringing the game into disrepute.
But although Thompson admitted using drugs, his lawyers denied he trafficked them, instead blaming his former housemate Thomas Windsor.
Windsor was jailed for trafficking after the Port Melbourne property was raided.
Lawyers for Thompson have argued it didn't make sense for a man of his profile and financial standing to traffic drugs, adding he had $3 million in the bank at the time after trading in cryptocurrency.
On Thursday, Thompson's lawyer Mick Milardovic said the AFL great's drug use admissions in court showed he was remorseful.
"The evidence he gave, Your Honour, was very poignant, it was very damaging to himself, his career, his public profile. He made significant admissions to using drugs," Me Milardovic said.
"He offended at a very, very low point in his life."
The court was also told Thompson had since invested in a number of ventures including making furniture from recycled materials, importing motorised e-cycles considered beneficial for the environment and dealing in hydrogen inhalers, thought to help people exposed to radiation.
Mr Reynolds said Thompson had taken steps to change his life but could not escape conviction due to the quantities of MDA and methylamphetamine police seized from his home.
One of the conditions of Thompson's community corrections order is not to associate with Windsor.
After his appearance in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Thursday, Thompson dashed to a waiting car to avoid media.
Australian Associated Press
