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Drug-trafficking charges against former AFL coach Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson dismissed

Former Essendon coach Mark Thompson previously told the court he used ice to mask the pain of leaving football.

Former Essendon coach Mark Thompson previously told the court he used ice to mask the pain of leaving football. Photo: AAP

A magistrate has dismissed drug trafficking charges against former AFL coach and premiership player Mark “Bomber” Thompson.

The football legend was facing multiple drug possession and drug trafficking charges, after methamphetamine and MDA were allegedly found in his Port Melbourne home during a 2018 raid.

On Thursday, Magistrate Duncan Reynolds dismissed the trafficking charges but found the possession charges proven.

Thompson last month admitted to the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court he was a “drug-taker” but denied being a dealer.

Police allegedly found 33 grams of methamphetamine, 481 MDA pills, an LSD tab, four smoking pipes and scales in his home.

The quantities of MDA and methamphetamine are multiple times the minimum amount required to be charged with trafficking.

But Thompson’s defence team had argued it made no sense for the former footballer to traffic drugs given his public profile and wealth.

“I’m a drug taker,” Thompson had told the court.

“But I never had any intention of selling drugs.”

Thompson stepped in as senior coach of the Essendon Football Club after James Hird was suspended for 12 months over the drug supplements saga.

But Thompson said he was in a “bad way” when he was dropped to make way for Hird’s return.

Thompson invited convicted drug trafficker Thomas Windsor to move into his home in December 2017, telling the court he was “happy to talk to someone”.

Thompson’s legal team argued the drugs were owned by Windsor.

“It was a difficult time,” Thompson told the court last month.

“I took drugs to mask the pain.”

ABC

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