Stuart MacGill, a former legspinner, was reportedly a frequent cocaine user when he facilitated an introduction between his supplier and another individual in April 2021.
The 54-year-old was aware that the cocaine in question was valued at $330,000, although he did not know the precise amount, having been informed that the dealer requested “a brick.”
A jury found the ex-cricketer guilty of participating in drug supply, resulting in a sentence of 22 months under an intensive corrections order, along with 495 hours of community service.
In a brief court appearance today, Registrar Peter Clayton noted that MacGill had enlisted the services of a highly regarded barrister.
Dominic Toomey SC, who has over three decades of legal experience and was appointed as a Senior Counsel in 2015, will represent MacGill.
MacGill’s appeal is scheduled for a one-day hearing on May 1.
In seeking to overturn his conviction, the ex-cricketer contends that evidence showing he had specific tendencies, including giving his dealer’s number to others, should never have been shown to the jury.
At trial, jurors were told the 54-year-old’s habit of handing out the number meant it was more likely he would engage in drug supply.
His challenge to his sentence claims Judge Nicole Noman erred when determining the exact quantity of drugs MacGill thought was being exchanged.
MacGill did not receive any of the $330,000 but had $1000 of drug debts wiped by his dealer.
The lucrative cocaine deal put him on the path to his assault in a dilapidated rural shed after his dealer stole two bricks of cocaine in a subsequent drug ripoff.
Once viewed as one of the world’s top spin bowlers, the now-54-year-old is on JobSeeker while working as a casual cricket coach.
He retired from cricket in 2008 after a career where he was forced to play second-fiddle to the sport’s greatest legspinner, Shane Warne, two years his senior.
MacGilll played 44 Tests, claiming 208 wickets at an average of 29.02.
