Aussie sports stars and drugs

AUSSIE SPORTS STARS CAUGHT MIXING WITH DRUGS

October 1978

Rugby league player Paul Hayward arrested in Bangkok after attempting to export 8.4kgs of heroin to Australia. Hayward later sentenced to 30 years in jail and was given a royal pardon in 1989. He contracted HIV in prison and died of a heroin overdose in 1992.

June 1987

Athlete Reg Spiers sentenced to death after being found guilty of four counts of possessing heroin and one count of possessing hashish in Sri Lanka. Spiers, who had competed in javelin for Australia at the 1962 Commonwealth Games, was reprieved on appeal but would serve a five-year jail sentence in Adelaide.

September 2004

Dual international Andrew Walker is banned for two years after testing positive to cocaine following an NRL game for Manly against South Sydney in August.

May 2006

Dual international Wendell Sailor’s rugby union career comes to an end after he tests positive for cocaine in an anti-doping sample. Sailor later apologises and goes on to return to action in the NRL with the St George Illawarra Dragons.

February 2007

Olympic gold medal winning canoeist Nathan Baggeley arrested and charged after police discover ecstasy tablets and cannabis in a car he was in on the Gold Coast. Baggeley is later sentenced to five years in jail.

March 2007

West Coast Eagles star Daniel Kerr and NBL basketballer James Harvey are both caught talking to convicted drug dealer Shane Waters on police tapes dating back to 2003.

August 2007

NRL star Andrew Johns is cautioned by police in London after they discover a single ecstasy tablet on him. Johns initially denies the tablet was his but admits days later he regularly used ecstasy during his playing career.

April 2008

Olympic swimmer Scott Miller is arrested and charged after police seized a commercial pill press, drugs and cash in a raid. Miller subsequently pleads guilty to several charges and is sentenced to community service and a two-year good behaviour bond. Miller was arrested again in 2013 after a police search at a Mascot property allegedly uncovered methamphetamine and $17,000 in cash.

December 2009

Newcastle Knights NRL player Danny Wicks arrested for supplying and possessing prohibited drugs. Wicks would go on to serve 18 months of a three-year sentence after being convicted.

April 2010

AFL player Mathew Stokes pleads guilty to charges of possessing and trafficking cocaine. Stokes is placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond and fined $3000.

August 2010

AFL player Travis Tuck discovered unconscious in his car by police and treated for a suspected drug overdose. The Hawthorn player is later suspended for 12 matches and fined $5000 under the AFL’s illicit drugs policy.

March 2012

Former AFL player Ben Cousins, whose career had been derailed by substance abuse, are arrested and charged with possession of methylamphetamine. Cousins was arrested again the next month for cannabis possession.

April 2014

Olympian Geoff Huegill and wife Sara Hills are charged with possession of cocaine at Sydney’s Randwick Racecourse. The pair both plead guilty and are given six-month good behaviour bonds.

July 2014

Olympic gold-medal winning diver Chantelle Newberry pleads guilty in court to possessing dangerous drugs and failing to properly dispose of syringes. Newberry had been arrested after a police raid of her Brisbane home discovered methylamphetamine in her wallet and handbag as well as used syringes in a bedside table drawer.

Stay up to date with the latest sports news
Follow our social accounts to get exclusive content and all the latest sporting news!