Vic: AFL player's cousin remanded in custody on drugs charges

AAP General News (Australia)
08-07-2009
Vic: AFL player's cousin remanded in custody on drugs charges

By Daniel Fogarty

MELBOURNE, Aug 7 AAP - Two men have been remanded in custody over drug raids which
resulted in an AFL footballer being charged with possessing ecstasy.

Police found a single ecstasy tablet in the home of Essendon defender Nathan Lovett-Murray
during a raid last Monday.

The raid was one of 11 conducted by police in Melbourne and the regional centres of
Swan Hill and Ballarat, after which five men were charged on offences including drug trafficking,
possessing firearms and possessing proceeds of crime.

Lovett-Murray's cousin Robert Knight, 35, of Epping, faced the Melbourne Magistrates
Court on Friday along with 41-year-old Swan Hill man Darren Perry.

Knight's charges include trafficking a commercial quantity of amphetamine and trafficking
a commercial quantity of ecstasy.

Police allege the trafficking occurred at Epping between April 8 and July 31 this year.

Perry's charges include trafficking a commercial quantity of methylamphetamine in Victoria
between April and June this year.

The pair made no application for bail and will appear in the same court on November 4.

Lovett-Murray's brother Dane, 19, has also been charged with trafficking, but is yet
to face court.

Lovett-Murray, 26, does not face trafficking charges and will appear in court in October
on the drug possession charge.

He also faces an unlicensed driving charge.

Essendon managing director Peter Jackson said on Tuesday there was a presumption of
innocence and Lovett-Murray would contest the charge.

He said the club had decided to let Lovett-Murray continue to train and play before
his case goes to court.

"This is a serious matter and we, as a club, are treating it as such," he said.

Lovett-Murray has been named to play in the back pocket against Brisbane on Saturday
night at the MCG, a game crucial to Essendon's finals hopes.

Originally from Heywood in western Victoria, he has played 94 games for the Bombers
since his debut in 2004, and nine this season.

AAP df/pmu/jfm/apm

KEYWORD: KNIGHT

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