A former ABC radio presenter allegedly attempted to sell drugs to an undercover police officer when he was caught with a $600,000 cache of narcotics, a court has heard.
Ashley Norman Hall, the former executive producer of the national broadcaster’s flagship radio program AM, is alleged to have used Sydney CBD hotel rooms to run a drug supply operation.
Mr Hall was arrested in December as part of a NSW Police strike force aimed at dismantling drug supply rings operating across the city.
Police arrested Mr Hall and later raided two hotel rooms, at Wentworth Street and Bond Street, in the heart of the city.
Police said that during the raids they uncovered a stockpile of drugs with an estimated street value of $600,000, including MDMA tablets, cocaine, 700g of methamphetamine and more than 1kg of cannabis.
The 52-year-old was hit with 23 charges including eight counts of supplying a commercial quantity of a prohibited drug.
He was also charged with knowingly dealing with the proceeds of crime after police discovered more than $70,000 in cash.
He was on Thursday due to face committal in Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court however Magistrate Greg Grogin agreed to adjourn the matter for several weeks because Mr Hall had recently changed lawyers.
He was previously represented in court by solicitor Sharon Ramsden however was no longer represented by her firm.
The court heard prosecutors were “optimistic” that the matter would be resolved shortly.
Mr Hall allegedly sold drugs to an undercover officer, and the prosecution case against him was described as “very strong”, the court heard.
He earlier this year failed in a bid to be released on bail on medical grounds, with the court hearing at the time he needed a hernia operation.
The court also previously heard he had been attacked in jail with a thong because of his snoring.
During a bail hearing in March a magistrate noted the Burwood man had previously been convicted “for the exact same offence”.
In January 2021, he was sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order after pleading guilty to two counts of supplying a prohibited drug and four counts of drug possession.
Before he left the public broadcaster, Hall was the executive producer for AM, as well as working as a reporter and presenter for ABC Local Radio, the PM and The World Today programs.
The matter will return to court later this month.
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