Corby brother's history of drugsKevin Meade and Sian...

Corby brother's history of drugs
Kevin Meade and Sian Powell
Australian May 24, 2005

SCHAPELLE Corby's half-brother Clinton Rose has an extensive criminal history, with convictions for numerous offences including two drug possession charges.

Court documents seen by The Australian yesterday contradict claims by Corby family members last week that Rose, 22, had never been convicted of drugs offences.

Clinton Michael Rose is serving an 18-month sentence at Woodford prison, north of Brisbane, while Ms Corby waits in an Indonesian jail cell for the verdict this Friday on a charge of attempting to smuggle 4.1kg of marijuana into Bali.

The court documents show that Rose appeared in Southport Magistrates Court on the Gold Coast on February 12, 2003, and was convicted of possessing a dangerous drug. However, he was not punished for the offence.

On the same day he was sentenced to six months on several charges including unlawful use of a motor vehicle, stealing and fraud.


Rose had been convicted without punishment in the same court on January 21, 2002, for drug possession and possession of a drug utensil. The documents give no details of the type of drugs or the amounts.

The Corby clan has repeatedly denied that members of the family were involved with drugs or had a criminal history. But when Rose was in jail in 2001, Ms Corby and her sister Mercedes were among his visitors.

Rose is now serving time for 62 offences to which he pleaded guilty in the Southport District Court in January 2002, including burglary, stealing and unlawful use of motor vehicles.

Judge Robert Hall sentenced him to three years' probation.

But in August last year Rose was sentenced to 12 months' jail for breaching conditions of his probation. Handing down the probation order in 2002, Judge Hall said the 62 offences, which caused a total loss of $46,558, were committed in just over six months.

"Your campaign of crime shows a complete lack of respect for other people's interests or for their property," the judge said.

The revelations came as an adviser to Ms Corby's Bali defence team yesterday said Indonesian legal assistance had been provided to the Gold Coast beauty student free of charge, or pro bono.

Vasu Rasiah said controversial Gold Coast businessman Ron Bakir's claim that he was bankrolling her defence did not apply to her Indonesian legal team.

"Ron Bakir has nothing to do with the Indonesian defence team," he said. "There's no financial involvement in any way between Ron Bakir and the Bali Law Chambers," he added, referring to the office run by Ms Corby's chief lawyer Lily Lubis.