A BALLARAT personal trainer caught with numerous vials of human growth hormone used the substance to prepare for bodybuilding competitions, a court has heard.
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Benjamin Sellars, 28, was also found in possession of 16 vials of liquid steroids, a zip-lock bag of testosterone pills and a number of boxes of steroid tablets after a police search on his Alfredton home in June.
Ballarat Magistrates Court heard Sellars bought the illicit drugs from his posing coach to prepare for competitions, but had since "seen the error of his ways", according to his defence lawyer John Irwin.
Sellers pleaded guilty to 13 charges, including possess a schedule 4 poison.
Police prosecutor Senior Sergeant Adam McCormack told the court police raided Sellars' gym, Ben's Army, mid-morning on June 5 and, after finding nothing, executed a search warrant at the accused's Alfredton home the same day.
The court heard police found 16 vials of human growth hormone and 16 vials of liquid steroids in fridges at the property, in addition to boxes of steroid tablets and a zip-lock bag filled with testosterone pills.
Senior Sergeant McCormack, who said the substances were classified as a drug of dependence, stated police were seeking a conviction given the quantity of drugs seized and that community emphasis on the drugs in question was "quite bad".
Mr Irwin said his client, who had not used the substances since February, was not a big player in the use of these drugs and police "were interested in the coach" more than Sellars.
Sellars got hooked into bodybuilding and became involved with the drugs, according to Mr Irwin, who added his client had never supplied the substance to anyone else.
Magistrate Cynthia Toose said: "I find it very difficult to reconcile the fact that someone with such an interest in the human body would become involved in this type of material."
In ordering Sellars to pay a $3000 fine with conviction, Ms Toose said she understood the industry and sport of bodybuilding was rife with the use of illicit substances.