The trial of an ex-soldier accused of possessing 300 grams of cocaine delivered to his Brownsville home in Cadbury "moist chocolate cake" boxes has resulted in a hung jury.
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Stephen Alan Fenn's trial at Wollongong District Court came to a close last Friday in which he pleaded not guilty to attempting to possess a marketable quantity of an unlawfully imported drug.
The 12 jurors on Monday were unable to come to a unanimous decision on whether Fenn was guilty or not guilty and were discharged that afternoon.
Crown prosecutor David Jordan in opening submissions said the Australian Border Force intercepted a package containing cocaine as it arrived in Australia from Dublin in October 2021.
The consignment also included confectionery marked as a "gift" and the cocaine was located inside boxes labelled "Cadbury moist chocolate cake mix".
The cocaine was removed and a substitute substance was placed in the box before it was resealed and delivered to Fenn's address by an undercover cop.
Fenn accepted the package, and later that day uniformed officers arrived at his home and invited him to Lake Illawarra police station where he was interviewed.
Defence lawyer Patrick Schmidt argued the case was a "simple" one and that his client had no reason to suspect the box contained cocaine.
Instead, Mr Schmidt said Fenn was expecting a delivery of pyjama pants with a quote from the popular Christmas movie Home Alone emblazoned on them.
Fenn left the dock after Judge Huw Baker discharged the undecided jury members. The matter will be mentioned next month where a new trial date will be fixed.
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Grace Crivellaro
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
Court reporter for the Illawarra Mercury.
