Australian Man Uses Body Image Disorder and Childhood Bullying as Defense in Steroid Court Case

Shannon Patterson, a 32-year old Australian man who lived in the Darwin suburb of Leanyer last summer, pleaded guilty to two counts of illegal possession of anabolic steroids in Darwin Local Court last month. Patterson returned to court for sentencing on December 3, 2018.

Judge Therese Austin sentenced Patterson to two month imprisonment but agreed to completely suspend the sentence on a good behavior bond. Judge Austin showed leniency based on “particular circumstances” applying to Patterson’s case.

The “particular circumstances” appear to have involved Patterson’s childhood history of being a victim of bullying and his ongoing problems with body image disturbance.

Eleanor Martin, the defense attorney representing Patterson, told the court that Patterson was severely bullied when he was a teenager. To make matters worse, he was a very small teenager as a school age boy.

“[Patterson] was quite a small teenager and as a young boy he was subject to quite severe bullying,” Martin said. “He still does see himself as the skinny boy that he was at high school. As you can see, your honour, he’s actually quite muscular.”

As an adult, Patterson joined a commercial gym, started bodybuilding and eventually chose to use anabolic steroids to help him bulk up and become more muscular.

When Northern Territory Police officers raided Patterson’s Leanyer home in June 2018, they seized two different anabolic steroids. The steroids were stored inside a chest of drawers located in his daughter’s bedroom. The quantity of one of those steroids was consistent with steroid trafficking.

However, Martin insisted that the large quantity of steroids was intended solely for her client’s own personal use. Prosecutor Nicole Sabamaba accepted the defense testimony that the steroids were purchased solely for Patterson’s own personal use.

Martin also asked Judge Austin to consider a non-custodial sentence so that Patterson could continue to look after his 8-year old daughter. Patterson had recently moved to Brisbane (Queenslands) to be near his daughter.

Patterson was fortunate that Judge Austin was willing to consider all of the circumstances in his life that impacted his decision to use steroids before handing down a sentence.

Source:

Dunlop, C. (December 6, 2018). Fitness fanatic handed suspended sentence over steroids. Retrieved from ntnews.com.au/news/crime-court/fitness-fanatic-handed-suspended-sentence-over-steroids/news-story/c9b28f69ffccd31afa1481f2efd27fc6