EXCLUSIVE
Grandfather Barry Calverley wiped away tears as he made a last-ditch bid to win bail on heroin smuggling charges while his health deteriorates in jail.
The 68-year-old Perth mining industry expert appeared via video from Wellington prison in central-west New South Wales with his head bowed and his face almost out of sight in the New South Wales Supreme Court on Wednesday.
Supreme Court Justice Belinda Rigg heard that Calverley, who has a wife of 31 years, a rural estate, three successful daughters and a mining career spanning decades, has had medical episodes while behind bars.
Calverley was arrested at Sydney International Airport on January 24 with a green bag allegedly concealed with drugs when he flew back from Laos via Hanoi, Vietnam.
Australian Border Force officers reportedly found 5kg of heroin, the current street value of which is estimated to be between $2.5m and $3m.
He was charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, which the Australian Federal Police said was a “quantity of heroin (that) would have been sufficient for 25,000 street sales”.
Calverley has been in custody since that afternoon, locked in a cell at the maximum-security Macquarie Correctional Centre in Wuuluman, 350 kilometres northwest of Sydney.
The Western Australian mining safety consultant had never been in custody before, his lawyer Phillip Ryan said, was hard of hearing and had suffered heart and gastrointestinal problems while in jail.
Barry Calverley, above with his daughter Harriet and wife Jocelyn, was a highly respected mining industry consultant with a country estate who is now locked up in a cell on drug importation charges that carry a life sentence.
His daughter Harriet flew from Perth to collect her father from prison and accompany him back to Western Australia if he was granted release.
Calverley’s wife, to whom he was married for three decades, had sent a letter of support and “someone of his age and health” would receive optimal care in the community, Ryan said.
Mr Ryan argued that his client would have a “very structured” plan ahead of his trial next year.
Slumped forward in the prison video booth chair, with little visible apart from his white hair and green prison sweatshirt, he did not look up again until Commonwealth prosecutor DPP Bethany Debenham opposed his bail.
Describing Calverley as “an unacceptable risk” whose bail could not be overseen by Western Australia Police, Ms Debenham said the case against him was strong “and the possibility of conviction is likely”.
Border Force officers say Barry Calverley imported this camping chair bag containing 5kg of heroin into customs at Sydney International Airport on January 24 this year.
Calverley, who has worked in India, Singapore and West Africa on oil and gas projects for resource giants including Shell, Exxon Mobil, BHP and Santos, is believed to have flown from Perth to South East Asia during the third week of January this year.
He left WA where he worked at places like Pilbara for up to $2,000 a day, allegedly with the promise of an $11 million payment to bring “a small gift” to Australia from Laos, an earlier bail hearing was told.
Downing Centre Local Court heard in May that Calverley organised in a WhatsApp message to travel to Laos and meet a man named ‘Privham’ at a hotel to collect documents.
When he was asked to carry a green camping chair bag along with an envelope back to Australia, a court heard he was “suspicious” and “aware something was not right”.
His lawyers say he was misled and that Judge Rigg was told the defendant would maintain a “not guilty” plea when he went to trial.
Barry Calverley, above with an ambulance he delivered to a Western Australian mining site, has worked on oil and gas projects for resource giants including Shell, Exxon Mobil, BHP and Santos.
Calverley has been in declining health since being jailed in Wellington Prison (above), where the inmate first appeared in court via video link looking emotional.
While he admitted the hotel swap looked suspicious, Calverley said he would not have agreed to anything illegal.
Calverley was highly respected and “impressive”, according to a friend who works in security consultancy for high-risk mining sites and who spoke to Daily Mail Australia.
The friend said he was “stunned” that Calverley was in jail on drug trafficking charges and provided a character reference on Wednesday for his application to be released on bail.
But Judge Rigg said she did not believe Calverley had shown why his continued detention was not justified or did not sufficiently mitigate the risks of his release on a charge that carried “a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.”
“I must refuse bail and bail is refused,” His Lordship said.
Calverley, red-faced, appeared to be sobbing and wiped his eyes with his hand before the video link to the prison was cut.
He will be sent to trial in the New South Wales District Court in September, with a likely trial date of 2025.
Harriet Calverley declined to comment on her father.
