From Fat Kid to Bodybuilder – with 60+ Years Supply of Steroids

A bodybuilder who took up the sport after being bullied at school because he was fat has today pleaded guilty in the County Court to illegally importing anabolic steroids from China.

Brenton Dowell, 25, was so obsessed with his body image he organised to have more than 3000 grams of testosterone – enough to last one person 61 years – mailed to his home in Reservoir, his stepfather’s home at Yarrambat and his father’s home in Tumut, NSW.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of importing anabolic steroids and two counts of possessing the drugs. The maximum penalty is five years’ jail and a $110,000 fine.

Prosecutor Ashley Bird said Customs officers had seized three packages containing anabolic steroids in September, October and November, 2010, which Dowell had arranged online to be sent from China.

When Customs officers raided Dowell’s home on November 22, 2010, he told them he was using three milligrams of testosterone and three milligrams of decadurabolin a week and had been training to compete in weightlifting competitions.

Dowell told the officers he did not understand “why the government is so harsh on steroids”.

A search of his fridge revealed 40 vials of the human growth hormone somatropin and a number of vials of anabolic and androgenic substances.

Ms Bird said the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority’s Dr Stephen Watt estimated the general dosage for testosterone propionate was 50-200 milligrams a day, with injections every 1-2 days. The recommended dosage is between 300-700 milligrams a week.

The total amount of active testosterone illegally imported by Dowell was 3181.35 grams – enough to last 3181 weeks or 61 years.

Defence lawyer Len Hartnett said Dowell knew what he was doing was illegal but decided to take the risk.

“It seemed to him to be quite simple to go online and place an order (for steroids),” he said.

Dowell had taken up bodybuilding when he was 16 after being bullied at school and ridiculed for being fat.

“Unfortunately for him it (bodybuilding) really has consumed his life,” Mr Hartnett said.

“It’s all about body image. It’s been an obsession over the years. He’s fixated on it.”

Mr Hartnett said that since his arrest, Dowell still loved bodybuilding but had stopped taking steroids and was getting his life back on track.

Dowell had had a difficult childhood being the third eldest in a family of 13 children. His father had had children with five different women and his mother had had children with three different men.

At the age of 14 he was homeless but managed to turn his life around and had recently gained a traineeship to be a technician.

Judge Graeme Hicks will sentence Dowell on April 17.