AFLW cocaine bust: What happened on the night two Swans stars were caught with drugs in one of Sydney’s trendiest suburbs
EXCLUSIVE
The two AFLW stars who were caught with cocaine in the off-season were busted by police after scoring the drug from a dealer in a car outside a trendy Sydney beachside bar, it can be revealed.
Police statement of facts obtained by Daily Mail Australia sets out the train of events that saw Sydney Swans players Alexia Hamilton and Paige Sheppard eventually plead guilty to possessing the drug at a court appearance on January 30.
Officers from Strike Force Northrop apprehended the pair on December 2 last year after observing Hamilton exit the Clovelly Hotel in Sydney’s east and appearing to text someone on her phone.
Police statements reveal Swans star Alexia Hamilton (pictured) did most of the talking when she and her teammate Paige Sheppard were approached by police on December 2 last year
Sheppard (pictured right) and Hamilton were seen spending roughly 15 seconds in a car, with Hamilton later admitting she bought drugs in the vehicle
The two footy stars had been at the Clovelly Hotel (pictured) in Sydney’s exclusive eastern suburbs when police apprehended them
She and Sheppard were seen getting into a Toyota near the bar shortly after 5.45pm, then exiting the vehicle ‘after a period of no more than 15 seconds’.
The officers showed the footy stars their badges and asked whether they had just bought drugs inside the car.
According to the document, Hamilton replied ‘yes’, at which point the police activated their body-worn cameras and cautioned the pair.
Asked if she had drugs on her at the time, Hamilton replied, ‘Yes, cocaine,’ then confirmed the drug had been bought from the car, the statement reveals.
Officers then asked how much she paid for the drug and Hamilton answered ‘four hundred’.
‘Shortly after the accused [Hamilton] reached into her top and handed police a tissue paper containing two clear resealable bags and the co-accused [Sheppard] has handed police one clear resealable bag, which she has retrieved from inside her top,’ the statement reads.
Hamilton (pictured playing for the Swans last season) was asked by police officers if she had any drugs on her and replied, ‘Yes, cocaine’ the statement said
Hamilton told police words to the effect of, ‘I have two and she has one’, referring to Sheppard.
The police asked Sheppard how much cocaine she thought she had on her and she replied, ‘I don’t know I had one.’
The statements show police found 0.6 grams of the drug on Sheppard and two grams on Hamilton.
The officers noted that Hamilton, 23, from Eastgardens, and Sheppard 22, from Randwick were ‘cooperative throughout the entirety of the interaction, making full admissions to the offence at the earliest possibility’ and that they expressed genuine remorse.
The statements showed that Sheppard (pictured in action for Sydney in 2022) was found to have 0.6 grams of the drug on her, while Hamilton was found with two grams
They were issued with court attendance notices and allowed to leave the scene.
Hamilton and Sheppard’s offences fall under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 Section 10(1).
They appeared in Waverley Local Court in Sydney’s east on January 30 this year and were each sentenced to a 12-month conditional release order, which is very similar to a good behaviour bond, and no convictions were recorded.
Under the terms of the order, Hamilton and Sheppard must abstain from drugs and not commit further offences for the 12-month period.
The Swans have so far declined to comment on the matter.
Under the AFL’s illict drugs policy, any player caught using illegal drugs receive a first strike, a suspended $5000 fine and counselling and are subject to target testing.
A second strike results in the player being named publicly and banned for four matches.
- For more: Elrisala website and for social networking, you can follow us on Facebook
- Source of information and images “dailymail“
