The lawyer for footy star Josh Addo-Carr has revealed that the secondary drug test police carried out during a roadside stop last Friday night has come back positive.
Carr’s solicitor Elias Tabchouri said NSW Police told him about the result on Friday.
Officers pulled the Bulldogs star over around 10.45pm last Friday night while he was driving in Wentworth Point, a suburb in Sydney’s inner west.
Addo-Carr is alleged to have tested positive to cocaine but the 29-year-old has not been charged.
The alleged positive came as a result of an initial ‘scrape’ test.
Officers then took another sample from him to send to the lab for more detailed examination, but were unable to follow usual procedure and conduct a second ‘scrape’ test because they were called to a reported home invasion.
The 29-year-old has told club officials he is adamant he did not take cocaine in the lead-up to last week’s test, and is at a loss to explain the first allegedly positive result.
‘Police informed our office this afternoon that the secondary test carried out by Josh Addo-Carr has returned a positive result. We are dealing with the situation in conjunction with Josh and will determine a path moving forward in due course,’ Tabchouri told News Corp.
The lawyer acting for Josh Addo-Carr (pictured) has revealed a second drug test police conducted last Friday night has come back positive
Solicitor Elias Tabchouri did not specify which drug the Bulldogs winger (pictured) has allegedly tested positive to
Tabchouri did not specify which drug Addo-Carr allegedly tested positive for with his second sample.
The former NSW flanker removed himself from training and Sunday’s team list in a decision taken on Tuesday.
The drama has come at the worst possible time for the Bulldogs, who are preparing to play their first final in six years.
Canterbury general manager Phil Gould would not say if Addo-Carr could return, should the Bulldogs advance to a semi-final.
‘I’ll answer that next week,’ Gould said of Addo-Carr’s long-term availability.
The Dogs boss initially said the winger’s first sample came back negative in a statement on social media.
‘On Friday evening Josh was pulled over and subjected to a random roadside drug test. The test results were negative and Josh was allowed to continue on his way. Happens to all of us at some stage on the roads. It’s the Police keeping the community safe. We appreciate their work,’ Gould wrote on X.
‘There is absolutely no truth to rumours that Josh had any issue. None whatsoever. Enjoy your finals football everyone.’
Bulldogs boss Phil Gould initially stated that the star had returned a negative result to his first drug test, before NSW Police corrected him in a statement
NSW Police then released a statement saying: ‘About 10.45pm on Friday, officers attached to Auburn Police Area Command were patrolling Baywater Drive, Wentworth Point, when they stopped a Toyota hatchback for random testing.
‘The driver – a 29-year-old man – was subject to roadside testing which allegedly returned a positive indication for cocaine. The sample has been sent for analysis.’
On Wednesday, Gould said Addo-Carr informed Bulldogs officials on Saturday morning that the first swipe test police conducted was inconclusive, and he was in the clear because officers allowed him to drive after the test.
Gould said he spoke directly to the winger about the incident and after Addo-Carr explained that he hadn’t been charged and he was allowed to drive home, he had one question for him.
‘I said, “What are you worried about?”’ Gould explained.
‘He said, “I’m not – I’m just letting you know that it happened”.
At the time of writing, Addo-Carr had not been charged with any offence
The Dogs supremo went on to say that he believes Addo-Carr’s statement that he hasn’t taken drugs because there ‘was no window’ in which the star would have had the chance to do so without the club’s knowledge.
‘When we sat down and thought about it… to have what they alleged cocaine in his system on Friday night, he’s had to have had that [the drug] in the last 48 hours to 72 hours,’ Gould said.
‘Well, he was training with us. He was playing up until Friday morning. He pulled out on Friday morning because he had an ankle injury.
‘So thinking about the previous two or three days, there’s no window where you would ever consider that he would do something like that. Not that we would consider he would anyway.’
The revelation about Addo-Carr’s second alleged positive result comes after Cronulla Sharks star Braydon Trindall was stood down by his club after failing a roadside drug test and random breath test in April.
He pleaded guilty to mid-range drink driving and driving with an illicit substance in his system, and was fined $1100 and banned from the road for three months.
The NRL handed him a breach notice but opted not to suspend him beyond the five games he was forced to sit out by the Sharks.
