Australian judge believed bullying excuse of bodybuilder that imported large quantities of steroids

Brenton Dowell, an Australian bodybuilder, was caught possessing and importing great amounts of anabolic steroids in March 2011. It was defined that these steroids could be sufficient to be administered for more than 60 years by one consumer. A lot of people believed that this bodybuilder would be sentenced to prison. But Dowell escaped from imprisonment successfully.
The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service reported that the bodybuilder Brenton Dowell had attempted to import more than 3 kg of testosterone powder. The packages that contained the raw testosterone powder were mailed in September, October and November 2011. They were shipped to 3 different places: to the home of Dowell, to his father and his stepfather.
In fact, such large quantities of raw powder could be ordered just for manufacture of anabolic steroids by underground labs for selling them on the black market. 3 kg of raw steroid powder could be used for preparing of 1500 10-ml vials with ready preparations.
Len Hartnett, the defense attorney for Brenton Dowell, argued that the steroid powder had been purchased for his client’s personal use. He added that Dowell’s usage of steroids was caused by bullying attacks that he received, when he was an overweight boy. Thus, according to the defense attorney Len Hartnett, Brenton Dowell became addicted to bodybuilding and began to administer steroids because he was an overweight kid.
The judge Graeme Hicks was impressed by affirmations of the defense attorney who described experiences of Dowell in his childhood. The judge Graeme Hicks added that it could be concluded that Dowell had become obsessed by bodybuilding.
Thus, the judge accepted bullying excuse. Based on the descriptions and arguments of the defense attorney, the judge Graeme Hicks concluded that the bodybuilder Brenton Dowell had purchased steroids personal intake and for sales to his friends in order to pay off personal intake.
The bodybuilder Brenton Dowell was enforced to pay a fine of 10, 000 dollars and to serve 2-year suspended sentence.