Possessing Dangerous Drugs V

Offences:            Possessing dangerous drugs

Solicitor:             Shelby Smith

Court:                  Brisbane Magistrates Court

Date:                   2019

Overview:

Our client was charged with possession of a dangerous drug after he was found with 6 MDMA capsules at a music festival.

Our client had made admissions to police and instructed that he wanted to enter a plea of guilty to the charge at the first mention of the matter.

We obtained a copy of the QP9 summary and formed the view that our client would be eligible for drug diversion.

If a person is eligible for drug diversion, the court has the option of placing them on a good behaviour bond conditioned that they attend a drug diversion session. This is a 1 to 2 hour drug education and counselling session that is booked at a location convenient for the person.

The benefit of drug diversion is that if the court places a person on a bond, they cannot record a conviction for the offence. As such, it is an excellent way to ensure that our clients do not get a recorded conviction on their criminal history. In this case, this was particularly important because our client is planning on finding employment in the health industry.

On the morning of court, Ms Smith accompanied our client to be assessed for drug diversion. He was assessed as eligible and his session was booked.

We then appeared in court on behalf of the client. Ms Smith advised the court that our client had been assessed as a suitable candidate for drug diversion. She submitted that this would be the most appropriate penalty in this case.

The magistrate agreed with this submission and sentenced our client to a $600 bond to be of good behaviour for a period of 4 months. This bond included a condition that he attend a drug diversion session.

In the event that our client breached the good behaviour bond (ie by committing another offence and/or not attending the drug diversion session), he would be required to pay the $600. Further, he could be resentenced for this offence.

No conviction was recorded on our client’s criminal history.