DERRYN HINCH: If nobody, apart from Neil Mitchell, believes Wayne Carey's story about why he tested positive for cocaine at Barwon Prison he only has himself to blame.

*Scroll below editorial to listen to Wayne Carey's interview with Neil Mitchell on Thursday morning*

PLAY: Hinch speaks to the company behind the scanner

His history with illegal drugs and drug dealers is appalling and he has rarely come across as, shall we say, the most truthful, let alone upstanding, of citizens. There was the front screamer of a headline in the Herald Sun today: Carey - Jail Drug Bust. Guards detect cocaine on footy legend before prison visit.

People will believe the worst - and not only his coterie of cocaine - users like his former manager and mate Ricky Nixon. And you can't blame them.

Even though the drug-scanning equipment which implicated the former football star is apparently notoriously sensitive and can tag cocaine traces on a person even if they have inly shaken a user's hand. Or sat on the same train seat.

Not that I'm saying Carey went to Barwon by train. And it may mean something that his mate who went there with him, former Geelong star, Ronnie Burns, did set off the drug alarm.

The sad thing is that Carey and Burns went to the jail as a civic duty. They were going there to give a pep talk to indigenous prisoners. And it all went sour. And on a day before he was meant to be taking his daughter to school for her first day.

But, as I said, he only has himself to blame. I remember a few years ago when I watched preview copies of the first episodes of Underbelly. They featured two of the most violent drug dealers, standover men and killers in Melbourne. The swaggering sociopathic killer Alphonse Gangitano and his brother-in-crime Jason Moran.

The first episode ended with Gangitano and Moran's wild attack on patrons at the Sports Bar in King Street in 1995 in which thirteen patrons were injured and one girl lost an eye. The thieves fell out and Moran shot and killed Gangitano in his Templestowe home just over two years later.

And that story reminded me of Wayne Carey because back in 2000 - while he was still captain of the Kangaroos and before he was exposed and disgraced for sleeping with his vice-captain's wife – Wayne Carey gave character evidence for Moran when he finally appeared in court over the King Street bashings.

I thought at the time: Why? Did Moran have something on him? Why would a sporting hero publicly defend a notorious crim from a notorious murderous family?

In the witness box, under oath, Carey said he and Moran had been to one another's homes and always had a chat if they ran into each other in the street or supermarket. Giving evidence, he said, was 'a neighbourly thing to do'.

He was asked under oath if head he ever spoken to Moran about cannabis or amphetamines? "Never in my life."

Asked if anybody had made him attend court to give evidence Carey denied it. The extent of Carey's drug use was not known.

His own manager, Ricky Nixon, went on radio to talk about Carey visiting bars with 'a certain criminal element'.

Then there was the glassing incident with then-girlfriend, Kate Neilson, in a Florida hotel. When police were called he kicked one officer in the mouth and elbowed another in the face. He narrowly escaped jail.

Later came that fracas when police were called to a disturbance at his Port Melbourne apartment. Carey did a 60 Minutes interview with Ray Martin. It was a real blokey job. A puff piece for it led the Channel Nine News even on a night when Jane McGrath died.

None of the hard questions were asked. Like: Where he got the illegal drugs from? Who was his dealer? Did he buy cocaine and sell it to friends? Where did the $9,000 cash come from the last time he was arrested in his apartment? Why did he perjure himself for Jason Moran?

Carey told Mitchell 'categorically, 100 per cent' he hadn't taken any drugs and would have been happy to 'wee in a cup'.

One person not impressed with Carey's explanation for yesterday was ex-girlfriend Kate Neilson.

She said on Twitter: 'It was only a matter of time before you were caught again! #douchebag' and 'Why not say "no comment" rather than lie? Don't understand it'.

Neither do I. As I said, on this one Carey only has himself to blame.

EARLIER: Wayne Carey's dismissing an incident in which traces of cocaine were detected on him at a maximum security jail.

He was due to speak with inmates at Barwon Prison yesterday when he underwent a routine scan for drugs.

Carey's confirmed the test returned a positive result for traces of cocaine.

He says the woman administering the test admitted to him she'd tested twice before because of the sensitivity of the scanner.

Carey claims he was told the particles could have been picked up anywhere he'd been in the previous few days.

He denies he is back on drugs and was shattered to see his name in newspapers on Thursday morning as he prepared to take his daughter to school.

He's told Neil Mitchell he has not used cocaine 'for years'.

Mitchell said after he interviewed Carey he believed the ex-AFL star's version of events, but it appears his ex-girlfriend, Kate Neilson, may not.

She posted on her Twitter account this morning: "It was only a matter of time before you were caught again! #douchebag" and "Why not say "no comment" rather than lie? Don't understand it."

When asked by @3AW693 whether she was referring to Carey, Ms Neilson responded to us: "I think that might be fair comment."

Meanwhile, 3AW's Derryn Hinch posted this tweet: "Wayne Carey couldn't lie straight in bed when it involves drugs. Remember his character witness performance for drug-dealer Jason Moran?"

PLAY: Wayne Carey tells Neil Mitchell he's done nothing wrong

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