The brother of an Olympic silver medallist is waiting to stand trial over a failed $200m drug smuggling plot.
Juries are meant to represent the community, but some jury verdicts have shocked the world. What happens when the evidence becomes too complex, or jurors can’t escape from a media frenzy?
Dru Baggaley, 42, and his older brother Nathan Baggaley were both sentenced to more than 20 years’ jail each after being found guilty in 2021 of attempting to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.
Nathan and Dru Baggaley were both allegedly involved in the failed drug smuggling plot.
Both men have since successfully appealed their convictions, with Queensland’s Court of Appeal setting aside the original verdict for Nathan and ordering a retrial on Friday.
In December, Dru was also granted a retrial that is scheduled for November.
However, he lost his third attempt at bail on Monday in the Brisbane Supreme Court when Justice Melanie Hindman rejected his latest application.
Justice Hindman said she’d found Dru was an “unacceptable risk” of failing to appear before court if released on bail after having spent six years in pre-trial custody.
She said if a jury found him guilty a second time, he faced a further 10 years of non-parole prison time if convicted.
Federal police arrested Dru Baggaley and Anthony Draper at sea. Picture: Supplied
The court was told despite a $50,000 surety given on his behalf, Dru was a potential flight risk despite not having a passport.
Dru and another man, Anthony Draper, allegedly retrieved plastic packets of cocaine – estimated to be about 600kg – from a foreign freighter 360km off the coast of Queensland on an inflatable boat.
It is further alleged packets of cocaine were dumped into the ocean as Dru and Mr Draper attempted to avoid authorities during a chase at sea.
Justice Hindman said both Dru and Mr Draper accuse each other of being the organiser of the failed drug smuggling, with Dru alleging he believed the packages they were collecting contained tobacco.
Former Olympian Nathan Baggaley successfully overturned his convictions on Friday and will face a second trial.
The court was told the ownership of a phone used during the drug smuggling would play a vital role in the evidence before Dru’s upcoming trial.
“It appears whoever was the owner of the phone knew the substance was the cocaine,” Justice Hindman said.
“The applicant’s case among other aspects of it is that Draper was the instigator of the plot and he was told the substance being imported was tobacco.
“There is evidence of Draper communicating with the applicant post offence effectively admitting he tricked the applicant into thinking the substance was tobacco.
“The applicant will give evidence at trial among other things that he thought the parcels contained tobacco, he did not know it was cocaine, the relevant phone was not his and he’s not the primary instigator of the importation plot.
“The path to conviction of the applicant is not an easy one in light of the presently available evidence.
“The jury would have to be satisfied that Draper’s ‘confessions’ are not possibly true, the phone belonged to the applicant and/or the app(licant) knew or was reckless in knowing the substance was cocaine.”
The court was told Dru was also facing fresh charges after a contraband mobile phone was discovered in his prison cell in January this year.
Justice Hindman said Dru had since been charged after it was alleged prison officers searched his cell and found the device in the sewage system after Dru had allegedly flushed it down the toilet.
The court was told Dru intended to fight these charges.
Police allegedly found about $200m worth of cocaine during the bust. Picture: Supplied
Despite Dru staying clean from drugs while in jail, Justice Hindman said she found there was an unacceptable risk he would breach his bail conditions if released from prison.
“Ultimately, I do accept the thrust of the Crown’s submissions that the applicant’s criminal history and the alleged offending both in 2018 and 2024, although he is presumed to be innocent of those charges, does seem to me to reflect someone intent on engaging in drug-related commercial activities for profit,” she said.
“The offending is high level, brazen and determined.
“It does reflect a determined person motivated to do what is necessary to achieve his stated objectives, that along with the boat aspect of the alleged offending does to my mind suggest the risks in respect to flight and further offending are here more real than apparent.”
Mr Draper was sentenced to 13 years in jail for his involvement in the smuggling plot and gave evidence against the brothers at their criminal trial.
The jury in 2021 found Dru was the plot’s principal organiser.
Nathan was sentenced to 25 years’ jail, while Dru was handed a 28-year jail term before the verdicts were set aside following their successful appeals.
Court of Appeal Justice David Boddice will publish his reasons for granting Nathan’s appeal on a later date.