Possess Prohibited Drug

Published 24 Oct 2011

Case Study - Criminal Charge - Criminal Matter – Sydney District Court - Sentence Appeal – Possess Prohibited Drug – Section 10 – severity appeal – drug detection dog

Nyman Gibson Stewart Criminal Defence Lawyers – Sydney and Parramatta

Sydney District Court

Represented by solicitor: Shaun Mortimer

Facts: Our client had appeared before the Downing Centre Local Court in relation to the possession of 3 ecstasy tablets. He had been detected by a drug dog, and was immediately honest with the Police in making admissions to the offence. He pleaded guilty to this offence and was given a conviction. He then approached Nyman Gibson Stewart to represent him to appeal against the recording of this conviction. The matter came before the Sydney District Court for hearing of the appeal.

Result: Our client was only 21 years of age, had no previous criminal record, was a person who was spoken of very highly by numerous character referees who came to court in support of him, and he had also undertaken a short course in drug awareness. Taking all of these considerations into account, it was argued that the personal characteristics of our client outweighed the severity of the sentence he received in the Local Court. The Judge who heard the appeal was persuaded to overturn the conviction, and instead place our client on a good behaviour bond pursuant to section 10 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 for a period of 12 months.

Shaun Mortimer is a criminal defence lawyer based at our Sydney office and regularly appears in the Sydney District Court.