Code-hopping footballer Karmichael Hunt has avoided a conviction for alleged cocaine possession but his future remains unclear after his latest court matter was brought to an end.
Prosecutors on Monday told Brisbane magistrates court there was insufficient evidence to prosecute the 31-year-old Wallabies player over allegations he was caught with cocaine in Fortitude Valley on 30 December.
Following the withdrawal of that charge, Hunt pleaded guilty to possessing alprazolam – a Xanax tablet – and for failing to attend a police station when required a week later.
Karmichael Hunt stood down by Rugby Australia after drug possession charges
He was fined $600 but no conviction was recorded. During the brief hearing Hunt’s lawyer Adam Magill said a conviction would “stifle” Hunt’s ability to travel overseas to play sport.
Magistrate Barry Cosgrove agreed and warned Hunt he had to be beyond reproach.
“You are a person in the public eye,” he said.
Magill said Hunt had been unintentionally carrying the Xanax in the right pocket of his shorts when he was out.
Hunt had the prescription medication pill to help deal with stress and anxiety, the court heard.
“He can’t sleep and he had a tablet for that purpose,” Magill said.
In explaining why his client had failed to return to the Fortitude Valley police station to provide fingerprints within a week of the charges, Magill said he had gone into a self-imposed lockdown and “it simply slipped his memory”.
But when Magill was contacted by police he phoned Hunt, who went to police immediately, the court heard.
Outside court, Magill said it had been a stressful period for Hunt and his family.
“It’s been hanging over his head for a few weeks,” he told reporters.
The utility back, who played six Tests for the Wallabies last year, had been stood down by the Queensland Reds after the incident and has been training by himself.
When asked about Hunt’s sporting future, just four days before the start of the Super Rugby season, Magill said it was still unknown.
“He’s still got to make some inquiries with his manager,” he said.
Hunt played seven seasons in the NRL with the Brisbane Broncos and four in the AFL with the Gold Coast Suns before switching to rugby for the start of the 2015 campaign.
Not long after starting with the Reds he was charged with four counts of drug possession and suspended for six weeks, fined $30,000, stripped of the vice-captaincy and instructed to undergo counselling.
He admitted it as a “terrible mistake” but denied he had a drug problem.