NSW: Ex-crime commission investigator fails in bid for bail

AAP General News (Australia)
12-22-2008
NSW: Ex-crime commission investigator fails in bid for bail

SYDNEY, Dec 22 AAP - A bid by disgraced crime fighter Mark Standen to get out of jail
before Christmas has failed, with a Sydney magistrate refusing his latest bail application.

Lawyers for Standen made the application in Sydney's Central Local Court on Monday,
arguing that the case against him was flawed, and that he would suffer psychological harm
if kept in custody.

The former NSW Crime Commission assistant director of investigations was arrested in
June, along with alleged co-conspirator Bakhos Jalalaty, after a two-year federal drug
investigation spanning three continents.

Standen faces charges of conspiracy to import a commercial quantity of a border controlled
precursor, conspiracy to supply a large commercial quantity of a prohibited drug, and
conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

His lawyer, Greg Farmer, argued that the police brief of evidence against his client
was incomplete, and that there were inconsistencies in the police statement of facts relating
to the type of substance involved and its quantity.

However, magistrate Allan Moore refused the bail application, saying the crown's case
against Standen was "substantial".

A psychiatric report showing Standen faced mental harm if he remained in custody also
failed to persuade the magistrate, who said tough custody conditions faced by Standen
were "a fact of life".

Standen will next appear at Central Local Court on February 11, when a two-day committal
hearing is due to begin.

AAP ab/wjf/maur/jlw

KEYWORD: STANDEN

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