Jail for theft of animal drug

Press, 20 October 1986, Page 12

Jail for theft of animal drug

PA Dunedin A Dunedin man has been jailed for five months for the theft of drugs including a lethal animal anaesthetic, sodium pentobarbitone, from a veterinary clinic in August.

As a result of using the drug, several persons including Jeffrey Allan Stevenson, aged 22, a musician, had been treated in hospital for drug overdoses during the last two months.

Stevenson appeared before Judge Blaikie in the District Court at Dunedin yesterday for sentence on nine drug-related charges. The Judge said the burglary was the most serious of the charges. He accepted that the lesser offences occurred when the defendant was addicted to drugs. He jailed the defendant for months for the

burglary of the St Kilda Veterinary Centre on August 11. Concurrent terms of one month’s imprisonment were imposed on four charges of possessing syringes and needles, three of possessing either sodium pentobarbitone or stemetil, and one of stealing a set of keys from the Dunedin Hospital. Mr Stephen O’Driscoll, counsel for Stevenson, said the defendant belonged to that category of drug offender who would use whatever substance he could get hold of to “get a high.” Since his conviction on the offences, Stevenson had greatly improved in his attitude and had not abused any drugs or alcohol, Mr O’Driscoll said.

The Judge noted that Stevenson’s response to past sentences had nott been ®> d - ,