Barry Calverley appeared to have it all – a successful career, country estate and loving family… until he was promised $11million to fly home to Australia with a ‘little gift’ in a camping bag
EXCLUSIVE
Barry Calverley seemed to have it all: a beautiful wife, an estate, three successful daughters and a decades-long career in mining.
He had worked in India, Singapore and West Africa on gas and oil projects for commodity giants such as Shell, Exxon Mobil, BHP and Santos.
He also worked from the Bass Strait to the Pilbara in his home state of Western Australia, earning up to $2,000 a day.
Mr Calverley was highly respected and ‘impressive’ according to a friend who also works in the sector of safety consultancy for high-risk mining sites.
His friend was ‘stunned’ to learn this week that Mr Calverley, 68, is now in a prison cell accused of drug trafficking after he was arrested three months ago for allegedly taking 5kg of heroin from South East Asia through customs smuggled in a camping bag.
Barry Calverley (above) with daughter Harriet was a respected mining consultant with an estate, who is now in a prison cell on drug importation charges, which carries a life sentence
Respected mining consultant Barry Calverley (above) had a successful career, property and a loving family, but the Western Australian grandfather is now in a prison cell, accused of drug trafficking heroin from Laos via Vietnam
Barry Calverley and his wife owned this riding school in a picturesque valley of primeval forests, orchards and vineyards near the Margaret River wine region.
On Wednesday, Mr Calverley’s eldest daughter, Harriet, was at his hearing after making the final leap from Perth to Sydney to see her father.
In a failed bail application, the court was told that Harriet would be willing to live with her father, who is in the maximum security Macquarie Correctional Center in Wuuluman, 350km northwest of Sydney, in NSW, should the magistrate order him out release from custody while he continues to wait. hearings.
“He is at great risk in the prison system,” his lawyer told the court, and if he is not granted bail he risks a very early death at his age.”
THE ARREST
Mr Calverley was arrested at Sydney International Airport after it was believed he flew back from Laos via Hanoi, Vietnam, on the afternoon of January 24.
Australian Border Police officers examined a green bag containing a camp chair as part of Mr Calverley’s luggage and reportedly found 5kg of heroin.
The Australian Federal Police said the “large quantity of heroin… would have been enough for 25,000 street deals with an estimated street value of $2.25 million.”
The court heard that through WhatsApp communications with a man named ‘Privham’, Mr Calverley had been promised US$7.2 million (AUD$11 million) ‘to obtain documents’ and that he had traveled to Laos and was placed in a hotel had agreed.
At the hotel he was asked to take ‘a small gift’ in a camping bag, as well as the documents back to Australia. Mr Calverley admitted it was suspicious and he would not have agreed to take anything illegal.
Barry and Jocelyn Calverley have three daughters, including Harriet (center), who were privately educated and grew up on a riding school inland from Bunbury, WA.
Border Patrol officers allege Barry Calverley imported this camping chair bag containing 5kg of heroin through customs at Sydney International Airport on the afternoon of January 24 this year
Barry Calverley, above with an ambulance delivering to a mining site in WA, has worked on gas and oil projects for commodities giants such as Shell, Exxon Mobil, BHP and Santos
WA’s grandfather is believed to have flown from Perth to South East Asia in or around the third week of January.
On Wednesday, Magistrate Mark Whelan was told that Calverley had ‘a highly arguable case as to his innocence’ and that there was ‘significant material supporting the belief that he had a reason to go to Laos on the belief that he had this very large amount would receive. of money’.
LIFE BEFORE THE PRISON CELL
After decades working on mining sites ensuring safety standards for 14 different companies over almost 20 years, Mr Calverley started his own company Redcoastal in 2022.
He posted photos of ambulances, fire trucks and emergency vehicles he delivered to mining sites, joking that they were his “big boy toys.”
The same year he put his wine collection up for sale on Facebook, including vintage Grange Hermitage and Wolf Blass reds and bottles of port from the 1960s, asking friends “Wine people, any idea on the price for this?”
Mr Calverley had started selling items on his Facebook page three years earlier, including the family home and a 2004 Holden Rodeo for $12,500.
The 20-hectare estate at Glen Mervyn, 200km south of Perth, has been owned by Mr Calverley and his wife Jocelyn since 2006 and was situated in a picturesque valley of primeval forests, orchards and vineyards ‘near Bunbury, the beaches of Geographe Bay and the Margaret River Wine Region’.
The Calverley’s sold their 290-acre estate south of Perth for just under $1 million in 2021 after living there for 15 years
Barry Calverley put his collection of vintage wines and port for sale on Facebook in 2022
The Calverley’s five-bedroom farmhouse had a saltwater swimming pool, dressage and show jumping arenas and a cross-country skiing course.
It seems the couple’s daughters grew up riding in the idyllic setting with its own stables and tack room, 15 paddocks for sheep and horses and hay farming.
The property was listed for nearly $1 million in 2019 and sold to business trust company Perpetual Trustee in 2021 for $965,000.
Meanwhile, the Calverleys had become grandparents and one of their privately educated daughters had graduated from university and become an events manager.
After being charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, Mr Calverley was refused bail and remanded in custody until his bail application on Wednesday, when he was again refused bail.
Barry Calverley appeared in court via AVL this week from Macquarie Prison (above) in Wuuluman, 350km northwest of Sydney in regional NSW
After being charged with importing a commercial quantity of a border-controlled drug, Mr Calverley was refused bail and remanded in custody until his bail application on Wednesday, when he was again refused bail.
Magistrate Whelan noted that the alleged offense carries a maximum penalty of life in prison, although he acknowledged there would be delays in Mr Calverley’s case before the court.
He also noted Mr Calverley’s stated heart problems and skin complaints such as dermatitis and psoriasis, but was not convinced his lawyer had shown grounds for bail.
In refusing bail, Mr Whelan remanded Mr Calverley in custody until a further appearance on January 29, 2025.