Sydney Drug Driving Lawyers appeared at Campbelltown Court on Drug Driving, Disqualified Driving & Drug Possession. FREE Call 1300 941 900 case assessment. I recently appeared at Campbelltown Local Court in Western Sydney where I appeared on quite a serious matter where basically my client was very lucky to escape full-time custody or jail time.
Campbelltown Local Court Drug & Traffic Charges
The matter which was before the Court included 1 x charge of disqualified driving, which was NOT his 1st offence. He had already had 2 prior drive whilst disqualified offences in the last 5 years. He had a 2nd charge of drive under the influence of drug, namely methamphetamine. He also had another charge of minor drug possession.
Bad Criminal & Traffic Record
His 3 charges were before the Court today, but my client also had a previous offence, or several previous offences of drug possession which he was on a good behaviour bond under section 9 and basically these 3 charges before the Court, namely the disqualified driving, the drive under the influence and the drug possession were all in breach of his prior good behaviour bond which meant that he had to be re-sentenced on that prior drug possession charge.
So these offences are serious in themselves but what made this matter extremely serious and very touch and go as to whether our client would go to jail or not was the fact that he had a bad record, a bad criminal record, and a bad traffic record. A bad record does add up over time and it can really increase the seriousness of the way in which the Court will deal with these particular matters.
MERIT Program for Drug Addiction
What we were able to do and establish from the outset was that our client had a serious addiction to methamphetamine, otherwise known as ice, this is an insidious drug which is a real blight on our community and it is really causing problems in all areas throughout Australia.
Our client pleaded guilty to all of these charges from the outset so he attracted a discount for an early guilty plea. The Court was willing to have him assessed for a MERIT program, which is a “Magistrates Early Referral Into Treatment” for drug and alcohol rehabilitation, approved by the court system and our client went along where he got assessed and then approved to attend that program.
This is a 16 week program, quite an intensive drug rehabilitation course and after my client was initially found suitable to proceed with the program, every 6 weeks the Court would have us come back to the Court and do a progress report on how he was going with that particular program. It was really good for my client to get into the program because there was no doubting he did have a drug problem with a methamphetamine.
He had probably up to 10 drug possession offences over the last 5 years since he did become addicted to ice, so every 6 weeks when we came back to the Court to give a report on how he was doing in the merit program, and I am happy to report that he did stick with the program and each time we came back to the Court the coordinator at MERIT said that he was going well and they suggested to the Court that he continue on, so he completed the full 16 week course but then after that he was ordered by the Court to go along and do a pre-sentence report.
Court Ordered Pre-Sentence Report
Now a Pre-Sentence Report is where a person is ordered by the Court to go along to Probation and Parole Services and speak to a corrective services officer, a case manager, who speaks to them and goes through all the features of their life, to do with their home life, there work life, their prior criminal offending, their attitudes towards the current charges and offences before the Court, and to the also explore other penalties or alternatives other than full-time jail.
Unfortunately, the Pre-Sentence Report came back saying my client was unsuitable for the into service and this was because he had previously done 150 hours of community service but due to his erratic behaviour he took too long to complete that 150 hours. Plus it is generally common for people with drug addictions to be denied the option of taking part in any community service programs.
He did complete that prior community service order, however, it did take too long and he was given previous warnings for non-attendance. So, unfortunately, that cancelled out one penalty option that the Court could have delivered so he was not suitable for community service.
So the Court needs to look at other alternative penalties and certainly given the seriousness of the disqualified driving offence because it was his third or fourth disqualified driving offence within the last five years and also the major offence of drive under the influence of drugs, these were major traffic offences which could have seen my client actually get locked up and do some time in prison.
Drug Driving & Drug Possession Case Preparation
I gathered some evidence together for my client, we worked together, we got the report from the MERIT program which showed he successfully completed the drug and alcohol rehabilitation program. The Pre-Sentence Report suggested that he continue on with his drug treatment but I was also able to get well prepared statements from his mother explaining to the Court the problems that her son had with ice and methamphetamine addiction, the problems it has caused from a family perspective and also the fact that it has almost torn their family apart.
I was also able to get a statement from his current employer to give the Court an insight into what he does do for work, the fact that he does have stable employment and the fact that his employer has been very compassionate and can see that my client is a good person if he can get himself away from the drugs and has continued with him to provide him with stable employment.
We were also able to tender documents to the Court to show the Court that my client had been going through financial hardship. Due to his drug dependency he had racked up huge amounts of debts on credit cards, small loans, and various other financial issues and we were able to show the Court that he was doing something about this and going through a debt consolidation company to try and avoid bankruptcy. It wasn’t a pretty situation for my client that he has been in.
Presenting the Drug Case to Campbelltown Court
We showed the Court that he has taken the right positive steps to get on top of his drug addiction with ice. It was shown to the Court that my client has been trying to get on top and his drug dependency and his drug addiction and also show that all these offences in the past and before the Court today have ultimately been as a result of his drug addiction and it is pretty well known that people who suffer from methamphetamine addiction do tend to act very erratically, they do tend to show little disregard for the law and that certainly held a lot of weight when we look at his prior offences of driving whilst disqualified. He knew that his licence was disqualified yet he found himself behind the wheel of a car driving.
We were able to present all that before the Court today and really pull at the heartstrings of the magistrate. We were lucky to get quite a compassionate magistrate today who could see the reality behind his offending behaviour, and ultimately it was due to his methamphetamine addiction but the magistrate could also see that he has really made a strong effort to get himself clean, to get himself of drugs and get himself away from the people he used to associate with who were heavily involved in the drug scene. The magistrate was willing to give our client one last chance to continue on with his drug addiction treatment and to lessen remain in the community and to continue forward in his life with his employment and to try and end the relationships he has torn apart within his family.
Drug Possession & Drug Driving Results
Ultimately, the minor drug possession which was of cannabis was dismissed under Section 10 so no penalties were given in relation to that. No action was taken in regard to the breach of the Section 9 Good Behaviour Bond that he was given little under a year ago so that was very good because he could have been re-sentenced on the prior drug possession charges.
In relation to the very serious charges before the Court today, the drive under the influence of drug, namely methamphetamine, he received an additional Good Behaviour Bond under Section 9 for a period of 18 months, so basically if he comes back before the Court again having broken the law then he will be re-sentenced on that particular drive under the influence of drugs charge
A Habitual Offender Declaration is issued upon a person who has 3 major traffic offences within a 5 year period and it means that they need to serve an additional 5 years disqualification off the road after they have completed the Court ordered disqualification. That Habitual Offender Declaration order was quashed by the Court which means that he will not have to complete the additional 5 years set down by the RMS after completing his Court imposed penalties. This was an added bonus for our client which offers him some light at the end of his Court penalties to get back on with living a normal life.
The drive while disqualified which was a repeat offence, was suspended under a Section 12 Suspended Jail Sentence so it means for the next 8 months he is on probation. If he appears before the Court or breaks the law in any way during that period of 8 month probation then it is almost certain that that Section 12 Good Behaviour Bond will be revoked and he will have to go into full-time custody and serve out a period of 8 months. He was also disqualified for 2 years for the DUI offence and the drive whilst disqualified, they will be run concurrently at the same time.
My client was extremely happy that he was able to avoid a full-time custodial jail sentence today and it was a very big relief to be able to get him the result we did so that he is able to attend to his drug issues and be able to remain in his stable employment. It is certainly his last chance and he is very well aware that if he is back before the Court again at any time in the near future then it is most certainly going to be full-time jail for him.