A man with two names has had charges for steroid possession against him dropped in a Canberra court.
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And the ACT Magistrates Court was forced to take a short adjournment to discover which of the man's aliases should be awarded costs.
The case against Ali Bilal, 41, also known as Tony Soprano, was dismissed on Friday after the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions offered no evidence to the three charges.
Police charged Mr Bilal last year for the possession of three types of steroids, which carried a maximum penalty of six months jail or a $5500 fine.
The case took a twist in October last year when Mr Bilal's alias, Mr Soprano, was also charged with the same offences and was due to appear in court on the same day.
Mr Bilal legally changed his name to Tony Soprano in 2002 but changed it back in 2009.
Prosecutors dropped the charges against Mr Soprano when defence lawyers told the court Mr Bilal was the correct name. The case against Mr Bilal was then dropped on Friday.
Mr Bilal's lawyers, Ben Aulich and Associates, applied for costs, which was not opposed by the prosecution.
Magistrate David Mossop awarded costs to Mr Bilal, but not Mr Soprano.
"It's hard to see how [the defence] can apply for costs for someone who doesn't exist and they've never acted for," Mr Mossop said.
Ben Aulich said his client was pleased with the outcome. "It provides a clear message to the Australian Federal Police that they must exercise their powers in accordance with the law," he said.
