Two years jail on drug counts

Press, 3 July 1979, Page 4

Two years jail on drug counts

A man who pleaded guilty; to nine charges involving drugs was sentenced to two years imprisonment when he appeared before Mr .1. S. Bisphan, S.M., in the Magistraie's Court yesterday. Robin Brent Tomlinson, aged 25, unemployed, admitted charges of possessing cannabis leaf, cocaine, heroin and morphine; possessing methadone and pethadine for supply; receiving three controlled drugs, possession of five needles and a syringe; and using heroin. All the offences occurred on June 11. Sergeant C. J. Shannahan said the drugs were found in several plastic bags when police executed a search warrant at the defendant’s address, The defendant had been in a surprised, nervous state and on seeing the police had attempted to hide a large sum of money, said Sergeant Shannahan. Some of the drugs, he added, were known by the defendant to be the proceeds of a chemist's shop burglary and had been dropped off earlier at the address by a friend .whom he declined to name. The defendant had admitted having used heroin regularly in the previous week and on two occasions on the day he was apprehended. Sergeant Shannahan said the money found in the defendant’s possession had amounted to $1270 in $lO and $2O bundles. The defendant, as an unemployed man. had been unable to give a satisfactory explanation for possessing such a sum, and Sergeant Shannahan sought forfeiture of this money to the Crown. Counsel (Mr M. J. Glue) asked that no such forfeiture order be made as another solicitor had been instructed to lake proceedings for its recovery. It was contended that $9OO of the amount belonged to the defendant’s brother and represented proceeds from the sale of his car. The Magistrate said there Could only be one type of sentence for this type of offending and that was imprisonment. The Magistrate said he was also surprised that an unem-|

'[ployed man could afford to ; spend $35 a day on drugs. | i “One wonders where you got I ‘ the money from.” he said. I On the question of for-! ■ feiture of the $1270. the) Magistrate said this matter[ would be reserved. He made) ! an order for the destruction , of the recovered drugs. i COMMUNITY WORK ! An unemployed man con- ' victed last week on a charge ; of possessing cannabis leaf for supply was released on : probation for 18 months and ordered to carry out 150 hours of community work. Donald lan Bray, aged 18, had earlier admitted the of-; (fence which occurred at Kaiapbi on June 16. The drug had been found; in the door panel of the defendant’s car after he had been stopped bv the police. It involved a large plastic bag which contained cannabis in four smaller bags and five rolls of tinfoil. The defendant had told the police he had the drug for the purpose of selling it to anyone who wanted it. He had also admitted having sold the drug in recent weeks for between $7 and $25. Yesterday counsel (Mr S. E. Erber) said the defendant | was a very immature person.) He had not sold the drug for; gain but to impress his | friends. The outstanding characteristic of the defendant was that he had a sub-normal intelligence, said Mr Erber. The defendant had been quite unaware of the range of penalties involved for his offence and had imagined it to be simply a small fine. j The Magistrate said it was obvious that what the defendant had been doing lacked the sophistication of a professional dealer; in fact, it was just the opposite. ! As part of the sentence the i defendant was ordered to j place his finances under the [ control of the probation I officer. DEPOSITIONS An unemployed man; charged with assaulting a { woman and with stealing her handbag has elected trial by jury. Michael Roland Poharama, aged 31, was remanded in custody to July 31 for the taking of depositions.