Disgraced football coach Mark “Bomber” Thompson has admitted to abusing crystal meth and obsessively trading cryptocurrency for 12 hours a day in the lead-up to his arrest, reports the Sydney Morning Herald.
Today, Thompson (53) told Melbourne Magistrates Court that cryptocurrency was something he’d “been looking for” since the end of his career, and that he’d been consumed by watching YouTube tutorials.
This, combined with methamphetamine intake, is said to have led the renowned footballer to trade up to $2.1 million (AU$3 million) worth of Bitcoin.
In 2015, Thompson was fined $30,000 for his role in the epic Essendon football club “doping” scandal, which involved team management encourage the use of performance-enhancing drugs for a competitive edge over several years.
Thompson eventually left the football world altogether, albeit after a brief-yet-unsuccessful stint in the media.
In January 2018, police raids conducted on his Port Melbourne home uncovered 134.6 grams of MDMA, an amount of crystal meth (ice), five-and-a-half Xanax tablets, one tab of LSD, and drug paraphernalia in Thompson’s (alleged) room.
Authorities subsequently charged Thompson with five counts of drug trafficking, as well as two counts of drug possession. Today, his defence reportedly maintained he had not intended to sell at least some of the drugs stashed in his abode.
Instead, it was claimed a bottle containing 481 ecstasy pills had been given to Thompson for safe-keeping by his friend-turned-housemate, who had been previously convicted on drug trafficking charges.
Earlier this year, news surfaced showing Thompson looked ready to join legal action against his embattled Bitcoin fund manager over $14.2 million (AU$20 million) dollars worth of (allegedly) missing investments, of which Thompson reportedly contributed roughly $697,000 (AU$1 million).
Despite the obviously tumultuous relationship, Thompson appears to still believe in Bitcoin. According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Thompson told the court: “Bitcoin is still going to be a big thing. I’m a believer.”
Thompson, who’s out on bail since his arrest, is scheduled to return to court in July.
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