EXCLUSIVE I lived fast and hard dealing drugs while hooked on meth… then came the sliding doors moment that completely turned my life around
Braiden Tonks, 32, has lived through a decade of addiction, violence and crime that ultimately left him scarred, alone and hanging on to life by a thread.
Mr Tonks managed to turn his life around and is now a father of three, partner and activist who is trying to help other addicts by sharing his own life experiences.
The young father said he was the son of a pub brawler who had a reputation among locals and that he leaned into his violent legacy.
Six-foot-five, covered in tattoos, and sporting stretched earlobes, he began smuggling methamphetamine into the Apple Isle in his 20s.
His exploits afforded him nice cars, Harley-Davidsons, and enough cash to use meth on the side.
But his addiction took it all away, leaving him with a stolen mountain bike and no roof over his head.
'I went from that guy with all the money, all the assets, and dealing drugs, to the absolute bottom of the spectrum,' he told Daily Mail Australia.
When he thought he'd lost everything, he sought solace in other users.
One introduced him to heroin – the worst drug he ever tried – and soon he was on the brink of death.
In a hotel with his brother, Mr Tonks tried some, felt dizzy, and collapsed.
CPR from his brother saved him, but the next morning he had to watch as his new friend wouldn't wake up.
His brother tried CPR again, then turned to Mr Tonks, bile in his mouth, and said: 'This is exactly what I was doing to you'.
The incident rattled Mr Tonks.
The turning point came when he was caught in a hailstorm, wearing a T-shirt with nothing but a suitcase of drug paraphernalia behind an electrical box.
He weighed just 68kg at the time.
'I remember sitting down behind this thing and bawling my eyes out,' Mr Tonks said.
'I wasn't born a Christian or anything, but I just remember sitting there and all of a sudden looking up, saying, "God, if you are real, help me, or kill me".
'I literally had nowhere to go. Nobody. My family had given up on me, my mum was in jail, my dad is completely anti-drugs.'
It was a moment he's now grateful for.
Soon after, he was nabbed at Hobart Airport following a failed trip to purchase $20,000 of meth. Detectives hauled him from the tarmac.
'They fully strip searched me, they found the cash, a couple of satchels with residue from drugs in the bag. That was enough to take me back to the station,' Mr Tonks said.
He copped a 12-month suspended sentence with two years on good behaviour before a variety of minor offences landed him inside Risdon Prison Complex for six months.
After leaving prison, he knew he couldn't stay in Tasmania. He feared he'd be pulled back into old habits.
His mother, just out of jail herself, and his ex-partner – who is the mother of his two kids – gave him a chance to stay in their lives if he cleaned up.
He said his current partner, Bec, and their daughter was a 'big factor' to his recovery.
Mr Tonks said surrounding yourself with people who want the best for you is key to overcoming addiction.
While working in construction and raising his kids, he started talking about his previous experiences on a podcast and trying to become that helping hand for others.
His content joins a growing group of 'underworld' podcasters - like Sydney phenom Spanian - speaking to forgotten Australians and those curious about life on the edge.
An estimated 10.2million Australians aged 14 and over have used an illicit drug in their lifetime.
Drug use has declined in most age groups since 2019, according to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.
But street drugs are growing more dangerous due to synthetic ingredients and powerful cutting agents.
Mr Tonks also shares stories from others on the path to recovery.
He has received dozens of messages a week from young people wanting to turn their lives around.
Not everyone likes what he has to say – and that's fine with him.
'There's 100 per cent way more positivity than negativity on social media for me through the message I carry, but once upon a time I wouldn't have been able to handle it,' Mr Tonks said.
'My father was a very violent man... I sort of copped that reputation of him myself.'
He admits he used to threaten those who criticised him, a habit shaped by his upbringing.
'Since I went to jail, I wouldn't say I found the Lord, but I found something,' Mr Tonks said.
'I believe in a higher power, whatever it is. I definitely believe in something higher than me. It's helped me, man, to switch off, grow more and not deal with a negative s***.'
His podcast is available on Tonksy Media Podcast via social media, YouTube and Spotify.
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
42 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
Former judge's excuse for leaking confidential material from Bruce Lehrmann inquiry
A former judge's decision to leak confidential material from an inquiry into Bruce Lehrmann 's criminal prosecution was an attempt at transparency not an act of corruption, his lawyers say. Walter Sofronoff KC has asked the Federal Court to toss a March finding by the ACT Integrity Commission that the former judge engaged in serious corrupt conduct. The commission's probe stemmed from Mr Sofronoff's leaks to a journalist. But the watchdog's adverse finding was a 'serious offence against the administration of justice', Mr Sofronoff's barrister Adam Pomerenke KC said during a hearing on Monday. Mr Sofronoff was not corrupt, malicious or dishonest, the barrister told Justice Wendy Abrahams. Rather, he genuinely believed he was acting in the public interest by sending documents like witness statements to the media. 'Even if Mr Sofronoff was wrong in his view, the fact remains that he genuinely and honestly held it,' Mr Pomerenke said. 'At worst it could be characterised as an erroneous attempt to ensure accuracy and transparency in the public discourse.' Mr Sofronoff chaired a board of inquiry into the ACT's criminal justice system after Lehrmann's controversy-plagued prosecution. The former Liberal staffer was accused of raping then-colleague Brittany Higgins in a ministerial office at Parliament House in 2019. A 2022 criminal trial was abandoned without a verdict due to juror misconduct. Lehrmann lost a defamation lawsuit he brought over media reporting of Ms Higgins' allegations but has appealed a judge's finding the rape claim was true on the balance of probabilities. The Sofronoff-led inquiry found the ACT's top prosecutor, Shane Drumgold, had lost objectivity over the Lehrmann case and knowingly lied about a note of his meeting with broadcaster Lisa Wilkinson. Mr Drumgold resigned and launched a legal challenge to the findings in the ACT Supreme Court. It found the majority of the inquiry's findings were not legally unreasonable, but it struck down an adverse finding about how Mr Drumgold cross-examined then-Liberal senator Linda Reynolds during Lehrmann's criminal trial. In March, the ACT Integrity Commission also found the majority of the inquiry's findings were not legally unreasonable. But it found Mr Sofronoff's behaviour during the inquiry gave rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias and he might have been influenced by the publicly expressed views of journalist Janet Albrechtsen. Mr Sofronoff repeatedly messaged the News Corp columnist and eventually provided her an advance copy of his probe's final report. Mr Pomerenke told the Federal Court on Monday the ACT corruption body had admitted it made an error in finding Mr Sofronoff might have engaged in contempt. The claimed contempt stemmed out of leaks to the media despite directions made to parties during the inquiry to suppress certain documents. But the notion that the head of an inquiry could be in contempt of himself was 'absurd and irrational', Mr Pomerenke said. This concession was enough to toss the findings against his client, he told the court. Any individual error could not be 'disentangled' from the final finding that the former judge engaged in serious corrupt conduct, the barrister said.
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
A new start after 60: I was a successful businessman – and a crack addict. Now I save other users' lives
For 24 years, Andy Kalli was addicted to crack cocaine. He lost contact with his family and sold his possessions – even his dad's sovereign ring – to fund his addiction. But three years ago, at 61, he started working for a rehab centre. Now, he says, 'I save lives. I make a difference.' The cork board full of thank you cards in his office agrees. Kalli works as service manager at the Perry Clayman Project in Luton, Bedfordshire, and likes to advise clients not to apologise. 'Because how many times have I apologised?' he says. 'Don't say sorry. Your families have heard it a thousand times.' It's by making change that 'you'll be making amends,' he says. Kalli grew up in north London, then Bognor on England's south coast. His parents, Greek-Cypriot immigrants, owned a cafe, then restaurants. They relied on others for help and, as a young child, Kalli was sexually abused by a family friend. He suppressed the memory, but the experience 'shaped me for relationships going forward'. 'I deal with a lot of patients who start on drugs and alcohol from 12 years old,' he says. 'My progression wasn't like that, but my childhood was erratic.' At 16, he trained as a chef and moved to London to work as a server at the Savoy hotel – the first of a string of hospitality jobs that Kalli pursued alongside his dream of becoming a footballer. 'Life was here and there. A little bit all over the place.' He married at 18 and by 23 had three children and a successful restaurant business, which he shared with his father. 'Flash Mercedes, lovely house, ducking and diving … I was always looking for something more.' He wasn't a big drinker and avoided drugs. He played football semi-professionally for clubs on the outskirts of London. Other business ventures came and went – ice-cream bikes, an ice-sculpture business. Plans for a nightclub fell through. Then, at 29, he was in a pub, having recently lost £50,000 on the nightclub-that-wasn't, when his mate offered him cocaine. 'Once I took that line, in my brain, I was 10ft tall. I started doing a bit more. I started going to casinos to make up the 50k I lost. I ended up blowing 100k in a week.' For a while, Kalli hid a double life, earning money in the daytime, using crack cocaine in the evenings. 'Me running away. I couldn't stop.' But he was 'very successful financially … Everything I touched turned to gold.' He was working in the US as a business consultant in 2013, when his daughter Helen was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Kalli returned to the UK. During the last year of Helen's life, he missed hospital appointments because of his addiction, and even took his 10-year-old grandson to a drug deal. When Helen died in 2014, 'I wanted to die myself,' he says. 'I tried to die myself.' His marriage had long ended – there have been two more since – but six months after Helen died, Kalli walked into a West Midlands hospital and asked for help. He was put on suicide watch for two weeks. 'The start of my journey of recovery,' he says. He was 53, and he's been clean ever since. How did he do it? 'By resilience, courage, fighting spirit … I had to distance myself from everybody and everyone – people, places, things. I had to focus on my triggers. I had to learn to start again,' he says. He often heard his late daughter's voice in his ear – 'Dad, you've got to help people' – and he started doing courses: peer mentoring, counselling. In his late 50s, he started a degree in psychology with substance misuse studies and at 61 graduated with a first. Along the way, he learned about himself. 'The unmanageability of my life. Moving from house to house, woman to woman, country to country. I was never satisfied. I was never happy with me … I learned to let go of the trauma around [the abuse], to let go of the guilt around my kids. I had to forgive myself.' At 64, Kalli is in touch with his children. 'I'm back as their dad. I'm a grandad now.' And he's 'still got ambition'. He's writing a book. At work, reconnecting families is a priority. 'I've got the power now. I think I can help save lives,' he says. 'I could be 24 or 44. I've got so much energy to give.' In the UK, Action on Addiction is available on 0300 330 0659. In the US, call or text SAMHSA's national helpline at 988. In Australia, the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline is at 1800 250 015; families and friends can seek help at Family Drug Support Australia at 1300 368 186. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@ or jo@ In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at Tell us: has your life taken a new direction after the age of 60?
The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
Walter Sofronoff had no ‘corrupt, dishonest or malicious motive' in leaking Lehrmann inquiry report, lawyer argues
Former Queensland judge Walter Sofronoff sincerely believed he was acting for the public good when he leaked his report on the prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann to two journalists before it was made public, the federal court has heard. Hearings began on Monday into Sofronoff's legal challenge to findings by the Australian Capital Territory's corruption watchdog that he had engaged in 'serious corrupt conduct' by leaking the report of his investigation into the Lehrmann case to Janet Albrechtsen at the Australian and Elizabeth Byrne at the ABC, ahead of its official release. There was 'overwhelming evidence that Mr Sofronoff genuinely believed he was acting in the public good', and attempting to aid accuracy of media reportage, his counsel Adam Pomerenke KC told the court. 'Even if Mr Sofronoff was wrong in his view, the fact remains that he genuinely and honestly held it. This is not a corrupt, dishonest or malicious motive. At worst, it could be characterised as an erroneous attempt to ensure accuracy and transparency in public discourse. That cannot rationally be described as corrupt,' Pomerenke said. Bruce Lehrmann was accused of raping Brittany Higgins in the ministerial office of senator Linda Reynolds at Parliament House in 2019. He denied those allegations. A 2022 criminal trial was aborted because of juror misconduct, and prosecutors decided against a re-trial. Sofronoff was appointed by the ACT government to determine whether the investigation into the aborted Lehrmann trial had been affected by political influence or interference. His report ruled out political influence or interference but made 'serious findings of misconduct' against prosecutor Shane Drumgold, which were partially overturned in March 2024. The ACT Integrity Commission launched an investigation in May 2024 to determine whether Sofronoff acted corruptly in leaking the confidential documents. The commission's findings, known as the Juno report, said Sofronoff claimed his conduct 'complied with the requirements of the Inquiries Act' and that, in leaking the documents, he had 'acted in the public interest to ensure the media were adequately informed' about his inquiry and 'in a position to comment accurately' about it. The commission found that Sofronoff 'had not, in fact, acted in good faith', that his actions 'undermined the integrity of the Board's processes and the fairness and probity of its proceedings to such an extent as to have been likely to have threatened public confidence in the integrity of that aspect of public administration. It therefore constituted serious corrupt conduct.' Sofronoff rejected a characterisation by the ACT Integrity Commission in its findings that he had become 'a fellow traveller' of Albrechtson, Pomerenke told the court. The phrase was first used to describe Sofronoff by Justice Stephen Kaye when finding in March 2024 that Sofronoff's extensive communications with Albrechtson had given rise to an impression of bias against prosecutor Shane Drumgold during the inquiry into the Lehrmann trial. The concept of the 'fellow traveller' being redeployed in the context of the Juno report was 'simply unrecognisable'; it was 'a meaningless slogan' with no clear definition, and 'seriously problematic' when used in that way, Pomerenke told the court on Monday. 'What is it supposed to mean? Is it that Mr Sofronoff shared an actual opinion or belief [with Janet Albrechtson]? If so, what is the opinion or belief that he actually shared? None is identified. And how could that opinion or belief rationally lead Mr Sofronoff to sacrificing the public interest in pursuit of the unidentified opinion or belief that he held?' Even if one vehemently disagreed with what Sofronoff did, it should not be described as corrupt, Pomerenke told the court. Sofronoff is seeking to have the finding of the corruption watchdog overturned partly on the basis of what he claims are a series of errors – an argument that turns on the interpretation of what constitutes 'serious corrupt conduct' in the integrity commission act – and on a lack of evidence that he leaked the report with malicious intent, the court heard. The ACT Integrity Commission failed in May in an attempt to have Sofronoff's challenge to the report nixed on the grounds that it was subject to parliamentary privilege. The hearing continues.
