Former crown prosecutor Anthony Grant denied bail as fresh drug dealing allegations aired in court – MASHAHER

A barrister and former crown prosecutor will remain behind bars after a magistrate refused him bail over a swathe of drug charges, including trafficking five times the commercial quantity of 1,4 bute, more commonly known as recreational drug GHB.

Anthony Grant, 44, faced Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on Monday from the Melbourne Assessment Prison, where he has been on remand since his arrest at his bay-view apartment last month.

In refusing bail, magistrate Timothy Bourke noted Grant was also facing further charges that have not yet been served, including allegations Grant trafficked drugs at Crown Casino days before he was arrested at his home alongside his girlfriend, who is also in custody.

The court heard a report submitted to the court also showed Grant has lived with substance dependence issues for more than 20 years. When arrested, he reported using alcohol alongside a fluctuating mixture of methamphetamine, GHB, ecstasy and ketamine each week, the magistrate said.

Police allege among the substances found in Grant’s apartment were 12.05 litres of 1,4-Butanediol, or GHB, alongside suspected MDMA, ritalin, magic mushrooms, cocaine and ecstasy.

Police also told the court they seized dozens of packets of other prescription medication from inside the privately rented apartment on Queens Road, which overlooks Albert Park. They included 355 sildenafil tablets and 322 sildenafil jelly packets – a schedule 4 poison used to treat erectile dysfunction.

Crime scene photographs released by the court showed a prosthetic penis, designed to use another person’s urine to cheat drug screenings, in a kitchen cupboard next to a jar of peanut butter.

Police said that on the kitchen stove was a line of cocaine on a white plate next to Grant’s 2018 Melbourne Football Club membership card. In the loungeroom, police photographed a safe filled with boxes of prescription medication.