#158 Blackwater Drug Possession

Join Wiseman Lawyers Traffic Lawyer Andrew Wiseman at Blackwater Magistrates Court as he represents a client charged with Drug Possession. Watch Andrew explain what happened in the courtroom, along with the outcome which he achieved and how he achieved it.

All right. Today, I'm at Blackwater Magistrates Court. It's about a hours drive east of Emerald. So I flew up from Brisbane yesterday. Two hour flight from Brisbane. Drove a rental car from Emerald to Blackwater State. In Blackwater last night. Met the client this morning. He was charged with repeat drug offences. So, basically, there was two counts of drug possession and utensils. Which in itself, wasn't particularly serious but it was his history that was serious. He's got a lengthy drug history. He's been twice sentenced to imprisonment wholly suspended, probation. There's quite a bit in there.

There's been quite a bit of drug offending since the terms of suspended imprisonment were handed down. He was currently on probation so, this offending was in breach of that probation. So while for first time drug possession, subject to the quantities of course, isn't particularly serious, when you've got terrible history which my client today has, it's all about trying to keep him out of jail. So again, back in 2006, there was offending up until then which culminated in two separate terms of imprisonment, wholly suspended. So there was two different instances of four months wholly suspended. In 2016, there's been further offending. So he's appeared at court twice previously.

Since then, and today being his third appearance at court since he was given wholly suspended imprisonment in 2016. So once again, my job was one of avoiding imprisonment. And again, this offending occurred while he was on probation. So basically, it's the offending itself we're dealing with, but also breach of probation and that lengthy history. With regard to repairing, obviously I needed to put the magistrate in the shoes of my client. And in order to that, I needed my client to continue seeking the counselling that he already was from mental health professionals, drug counsellors, and all the rest of it. He had evidence that he was actually doing that.

Get him to do proper drug counselling, which he did. We got evidence of that as well. I got my instructions from him well before now. I got the police brief well before now. Sat down, prepared my submissions, had relevant case law on hand just in case the prosecutions and or the magistrate were dead keen for actual imprisonment. But again, my job was one of trying to avoid imprisonment in any way I possibly could. I'll spare you length about my client's background. I'm not going to air his mental health and medical history here. But there was lifelong conditions that he was self-medicating for through the use of illicit substances.

I spoke about his background, work history, family situation, difficulties he suffers, and that obviously that he would suffer if he was actually be put in jail. Spoke at length about the alternatives available to magistrate other than actual imprisonment. And I was on my feet for quite some time. And, I guess, ultimately what I'm getting at is I was successful in persuading the magistrate not to physically imprison my client. He punished him in two ways. He gave him further imprisonment wholly suspended. So it was three months wholly suspended for 18 months. And he's given him a fresh period of probation for 18 months.

So probation, well, with a wholly suspended sentence, basically what it means is three months will hang over his head for 18 months. So he doesn't have to proactively do anything other than avoid being brought before the courts for offences that are punishable by imprisonment. So as long as he doesn't appear before the courts in the next 18 months, that wholly suspended period of imprisonment will evaporate. That'll be the end of it. But in addition to that, he's given 18 months probation. So what that means is he needs to report to probation parole periodically as dictated by the probation representative. Do whatever drug testing they require, et cetera.

Basically, he's got to comply with any reasonable direction they give. And I guess probation's job is one of trying to get him back on the straight and narrow. And probation's an order that the magistrate can't give unless the client consents. So if the client said, "No, I'm not interested in probation." They can't give it. But then obviously, the magistrate doesn't go, "Oh, forget I even mentioned it, then." They step it up and put you in jail. So obviously, my client consented to probation that was given. So, again, in summary, three months imprisonment wholly suspended for 18 months. 18 months probation. As long as he pulls his head in and doesn't offend in that timeframe, that'll be the end of it.

Hopefully for his sake, he will put all this behind him, get on with his life, and try and reform himself. Obviously, the client and his family are very relieved given he's not actually going to jail. I'm Andrew Wiseman at Blackwater Magistrate's Court. Thanks for watching.