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Stokes drug case ‘weak’

By Mr Dandalooa

Geelong Football Club could have a legal battle on its hands after a court was told drug trafficking charges against premiership player Mathew Stokes are “weak” and “tenuous” and should be dropped.

Twenty-five-year-old Stokes was last month charged with possession and trafficking of cocaine after police alleged he bought one gram of cocaine for friends who were visiting from Darwin.

Stokes, who played in the Cats’ 2007 premiership-winning side, was charged along with five other men in a police operation in Geelong after he allegedly told police that he bought $500 worth of coke from a nightclub bouncer for a friend.

Today, his lawyer, Mark Dean told the Geelong Magistrates Court that the trafficking case was weak and said it was not alleged Stokes used his own money, profited from the deal or took the illicit drug himself.

It was reported that Dean argued if the prosecution refuses to drop the trafficking charge it was in the interests of justice to finish Stokes’ case in the Magistrates Court today.

The prosecution has opposed the application for Stokes to be sentenced in the Magistrates Court.

If Stokes is convicted of the trafficking charge, the star footballer faces a lifetime ban from the AFL under the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) code, which the AFL is a signatory.

Stokes was charged after raids in Geelong where police seized more than $3,000 in cash and drugs worth an estimated $50,000 and after his name was mentioned in telephone intercepts during the operation.

Stokes, who began playing for Geelong in 2006 and has played 71 games with the club, was suspended until round 8 of the season and has been fined by the Cats $5,000.

But if the case is dropped, there could be room for Stokes to mount a legal case against the Geelong Football Club who dropped him when the matter was alleged.

Geelong head honcho Brian Cook last month said the club was disappointed by the turn of events and stood him down.

“Given the gravity of the charges the club has decided that Mathew will be stood down from all club activity as we attempt to gather all the facts of this matter,” he said.

“This is not a rush to judgement but a reflection on the seriousness of the situation. It is important for Mathew that he deals with legal issues at hand as his first priority.

“As we have in the past, the club will not rush to formulate a long term determination of any penalty.

“Mathew is obviously very upset by what has happened and we will give him a little time to gather his thoughts and then we will sit down with him and work through the situation.

“The club has been in contact with the AFL throughout the day to ensure they have been kept informed.’’

There is no allegation that Stokes, who played in the Cats’ 2007 premiership team, took the cocaine himself.

Senior Constable Matthew Plunkett in February told the court that a series of phone calls and text messages between Stokes and co-accused Matthew Randall, 36, of Grovedale, were intercepted by police.

Police allege those conversations involved discussions of purchasing drugs and the price.