A top criminal defense lawyer has warned that Broncos star Ezra Mam could face up to 14 years in prison after he allegedly failed a roadside drug test after being involved in a head-on car crash.
Mam was involved in the alleged incident in the northern Brisbane suburb of Bardon just hours before the Australian Kangaroos faced Tonga in the Pacific Championship last Friday.
The 21-year-old was reportedly moving house when the Ford Ranger he was driving allegedly collided with an Uber car driven by a mother whose daughter was a passenger.
No one was seriously injured in the incident.
Queensland Police carried out roadside drug and alcohol tests, and Mam allegedly failed the drug test but returned a negative result for alcohol.
Police and the NRL Integrity Unit are now investigating the incident and are awaiting the results of a secondary drug test, which could take weeks to arrive.
Lawyer Tom Taylor, considered one of Canberra’s most successful criminal defense lawyers, has emphasized how serious the situation is for the troubled Brisbane player.
“The precise nature of the charges will really depend on the evidence that is gathered as part of this investigation,” he told Nine’s Today program on Monday.
A top lawyer says Broncos star Ezra Mam could face up to 14 years behind bars in a worst-case scenario after being involved in a car accident last Friday.
Mum was allegedly behind the wheel of a ute that crashed into an Uber in the Brisbane suburb of Bardon on Friday (Mum is pictured on the ground just after the collision).
‘There is a little bit of public information known about it at the moment, but there is still a way to go.
“The types of charges and the consequences that will follow from those charges will really depend on the evidence that is collected.”
Police have alleged that Mam was also driving without a license at the time of the accident.
However, Taylor says that’s the least of Mom’s worries.
“The two most important charges are actually those that relate to the drug (allegedly) in his system, if the blood sample that was taken at the hospital confirms the presence of a drug in his system,” Taylor said.
‘If there were injuries sustained (by the occupants of the other car) then the driving and (alleged) drug driving charges are of most concern to you.
“Potentially, if injuries were sustained, the penalty could be up to 14 years in prison.”
Taylor said the result of the second drug test should be known in a week or two.
Queensland Police and the NRL Integrity Unit are investigating the alleged incident involving the Broncos’ star playmaker.
Mam also faces termination of his $4 million contract depending on the outcome of the investigation.
“Those tests will only indicate four types of drugs: cocaine, cannabis, MDMA and methamphetamine, also known as ice,” he said.
“But they can be unreliable, so the best test will be blood tests to confirm the presence of a drug and also the amount of the drug, which will determine, through expert opinion, how affected you might have been if the drug was in his system.’
Brisbane Broncos chief executive Dave Donaghy has not ruled out sacking the star playmaker but said the club will not make any decision on Mam’s $4 million contract until the facts are clear.
“It would be remiss of me to get too far ahead of myself on this point,” he said Monday.
‘We have not had an in-depth internal discussion. I think, first of all, we don’t have all the complete facts. We want to make sure we have all the information so we can make the right decision for us.
Broncos CEO Dave Donaghy has not ruled out breaking Mam’s $4 million contract depending on the results of the police investigation.
“But certainly, from the club’s perspective, we are very disappointed to find ourselves in a position like this.
‘We are a community club that puts the community at the center of what we do.
“For us to have these kinds of discussions in the off-season instead of talking about preparation, I guess, or preparation leading up to next season is really disappointing. “That point has certainly already been made.
It is the second off-field incident involving the Broncos playmaker this year, after he was involved in an altercation with a fan while on holiday in Bali with teammate Reece Walsh.
The Broncos duo were reportedly asked for a selfie at a Bali nightclub and the fan’s phone broke during the interaction. Mom and Walsh replaced the broken phone with a new one.
Regardless of the outcome of the investigation, Donaghy said the two scandals had to be a wake-up call for young players on the Broncos team.
‘Ezra is a young man, he is 21 years old. “They make mistakes, but unfortunately in this industry you need to grow quickly,” he said.
‘It’s the price of entry, it’s a very privileged role. So it will be a process to follow and we will do it. I am important, as we all are at the club, in terms of personal responsibility and accountability.
“I’ve seen comments before about the moment of a line in the sand, I think for this group it is a moment of maturity.”