Bullying excuse in the Australian court

Brenton Dowell, an Australian bodybuilder, was caught possessing and importing significant quantities of anabolic steroids in March 2011. It was defined that these steroids could be sufficient to be utilized for over sixty years by one user. Many people thought that this bodybuilder would be sentenced to prison. But Brenton Dowell escaped from imprisonment successfully.
The Australian Customs and Border Protection Service claimed that Brenton Dowell had tried to import illegally over 3 kg of testosterone powder. The packages that contained the raw testosterone powder were mailed in September, October and November 2011. They were directed to 3 various places: to Dowell’s home, to his father and his stepfather.
Actually, such large quantities of raw testosterone powder could be bought only for manufacture of anabolic steroids by underground labs for selling them on the black market. 3 kg of raw testosterone powder could be utilized for getting of 1500 10-ml vials with ready preparations.
Len Hartnett, the defense attorney for Brenton Dowell, claimed that the steroid powder had been bought for his client’s personal use. He noticed that Dowell’s intake of steroids was caused by bullying attacks which he received, when he was an overweight child. So, according to the defense attorney Len Hartnett, Brenton Dowell became addicted to bodybuilding and began to take steroids because he was an overweight kid.
The judge Graeme Hicks was influenced by affirmations of the defense attorney Len Harnett who described experiences of Brenton Dowell in his childhood. The judge Graeme Hicks noted that it could be concluded that Brenton Dowell had become obsessed by bodybuilding.
So, 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 use and for sales to his friends in order to pay off personal usage.
Brenton Dowell was enforced to pay a fine of 10, 000 dollars and to serve 2-year probation.