A witness in a Gold Coast drug case claims tennis ace Bernard Tomic boasted about carrying $50,000 of cocaine.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The unproven allegation was among sworn evidence considered by Magistrate Ron Kilner who decided Gold Coast nightclub owner Jamie Pickering should stand trial on drug charges.
Mr Pickering is defending four charges of supplying cocaine, including two charges of supplying to underage girls. A fifth charge he is disputing relates to his Surfers Paradise apartment being used for a criminal act, namely drug offences.
In a written decision obtained by Fairfax Media, Magistrate Kilner wrote that an underage witness said she tried to snort white powder while at Mr Pickering's apartment last year.
"She does not say that anyone identified the white powder to her as drugs in general or cocaine in general. The only exception to that statement was when Bernard Tomic stated to her on one occasion that he had $50,000 of cocaine," Mr Kilner wrote.
"It is however readily apparent that the powder was thought by her as some sort of illicit drug, even though she also had no experience in illicit drugs."
Fairfax Media has contacted Tomic's Dubai-based management for comment. Mr Pickering told News Corp that his friend Tomic didn't touch drugs and if he made the comments they would have been "in jest".
No charges have been laid against Tomic and there is no suggestion he was investigated by police.
Mr Pickering was arrested and charged when Gold Coast police carried out a huge drugs blitz on the glitter strip last year.
During the committal, four of the witnesses told the Southport Magistrates Court they saw white powder being sniffed at the apartment. However Mr Pickering's team tried to argue it could not be proved that the substance was cocaine.
Only one of the witnesses who tried the substance said they experienced any effects, saying she felt "tingly".
Magistrate Kilner said the two underage witnesses admitted they lied about being over 18 when questioned by Mr Pickering, however "he simply took their word".
"The defendant is a nightclub owner and must be [used] to underage people trying to enter his nightclub. He would no doubt be aware of some of the tricks tried by underage people to gain entrance to nightclubs and the fact that some girls, look much older than they are when they dressed and made up," he wrote.
The magistrate ruled that none of the five charges should be dropped and ordered Mr Pickering to stand trial.
