Racing identity’s court win after coke scheme

A racehorse owner who smuggled more than 220kg of cocaine through Sydney airport has learned his fate after a desperate bid to slash his almost three decade prison sentence.

Damion Flower was sentenced to 28 years in prison after pleading guilty to importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug and dealing with criminal proceeds.

The 49-year-old was busted smuggling $70 million of cocaine into Australia from South Africa on 12 occasions between 2016-2019 alongside his co-accused, To’Oto’O Mafiti.

The Sydney Airport baggage handler was likewise sentenced to 23 years behind bars after pleading guilty to commercial drug importation and dealing with criminal proceeds.

Mafiti and Flower were handed non-parole periods of 14 and 17 years respectively, but have since launched bids to have their sentences slashed in the Court of Criminal Appeal.

Returning before the court on Friday, the pair were told by Justices Harrison, Hamil, and Adams that their appeal would be granted and that their sentences would be quashed.

Flower was instead resentenced 21 years and six months behind bars, with the non-parole period slashed to just 13 years beginning from the date of his arrest on May 21, 2019.

He will now be eligible for release on parole on four years earlier on 21 May, 2035. Flower was also handed a concurrent four year prison sentence for the criminal proceeds charge.

Matifi was similarly resentenced to 16 years in prison for the drug charge with a concurrent sentence of five years and six months in prison for dealing with criminal proceeds.

The former baggage handler will be eligible for parole in November 2028, having been resentenced to a new non-parole period of nine years and six months, down from 14 years.

The court was previously told Mafiti used his access as a baggage handler to facilitate the smuggling and avoid detection, acting under the “managerial” direction of Flower.

The racehorse owner shot to prominence in the racing world as part-owner of the 2003 AJC Australian Derby winner Clangalang, and later champion sprinter Snitzel.

Read related topics:Sydney