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9 months ago
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Olympic kayaker Nathan Baggaley will have a chance to fight his 25-year prison sentence over a failed plot to smuggle more than 500 kilograms of cocaine into Australia after his brother won an appeal.
Nathan Baggaley and his younger brother Dru were previously sentenced in the Brisbane Supreme Court after a jury found them guilty in 2021 of attempting to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug.
The failed plot involved attempting to import up to $200million worth of cocaine into Australia via boat in 2018.
When the boat Dru Baggaley and another man, Anthony Draper, were travelling on was intercepted by an Australian Navy vessel, the pair flung the packages allegedly carrying cocaine overboard.
Nathan Baggaley (left) and his brother Dru (right) were convicted in 2021 over their roles in a failed plot to import 650kg of cocaine into Australia
It's estimated the bundles authorities recovered contained 650kg of white powder and cocaine worth between $130m and $200m.
The Olympic silver medallist was jailed with a non-parole period of 12 years.
Draper, who pleaded guilty to attempting to import a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, was sentenced to 13 years in jail for his involvement in the smuggling plot, with a non-parole period of four years and three months.
Dru Baggaley was sentenced to 28 years' jail, with a non-parole period of 16 years, after a jury found he was the principal organiser of the failed smuggling plot and he also recruited Draper to go to sea with him.
Dru Baggaley and Anthony Draper were intercepted by the Australian navy while allegedly going to pick up cocaine in the ocean (pictured)
However, on December 8, the Court of Appeal found a miscarriage of justice had occurred in Dru Baggaley's trial.
He successfully argued that the Crown failed to prove he had owned the phone used during the planning stages of the drug smuggling plot.
The Court of Appeal ordered Dru Baggaley's verdict be set aside and ordered a retrial.
Following this decision, the Court of Appeal reviewed Nathan Baggaley's appeal on Thursday.
He was granted more time to consider any grounds of his appeal he wished to amend given his brother's recent court win.
He was ordered to resubmit any fresh evidence or amended applications by January 29 to allow the Crown to reconsider.
Nathan Baggaley (pictured competing for Australia) has had his appeal reviewed after a bombshell decision relating to the case against his brother Dru
The matter will be mentioned again early next year.
In November, Nathan Baggaley had argued during his appeal in the Brisbane Court of Appeal that his sentence of 25 years was excessive, considering he had a lesser role in the importation than his brother.
He'd also argued the Crown had failed to prove during his trial that key messages sent on various apps under the username 'Thunderbutt' throughout the planning stages of importing the cocaine were sent by him.
Federal Police continued to find bags of cocaine washing up on the shore after the Baggaleys were arrested (pictured)
Another appeal contention argued by Nathan Baggaley was that key evidence used in the trial showed that his fingerprints were found on the inside of the black tape used to cover up the registration number of the inflatable boat used by his brother and Draper.
Nathan Baggaley had previously purchased the boat, as well as a trailer and equipment such as a satellite phone and GPS system, all worth more than $100,000.
He told the court in November that he had purchased the tape but had left it in the boat and it was possible that his brother used it to cover the registration.
Nathan Baggaley argued his sentence should be reduced to about eight years to mirror Draper's lesser sentence.
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