Pharmacy burglar remanded

Press, 15 May 1987, Page 7

Pharmacy burglar remanded

A man who broke into Parklands Pharmacy on November 29 last and took a big quantity of codeine-based drugs later told the police the drugs were for a friend, the District Court heard yesterday. lan Quentin Bridge, aged 29, unemployed, pleaded guilty to charges of burglary of the Parklands Pharmacy and possessing morphine. Bridge (Mr P. H. B. Hall) also pleaded guilty to charges of possessing utensils for the manufacture of homebake morphine and unlawfully possessing a firearm, a .22 calibre rifle, both on December 30. Sergeant Fenton Wood, prosecuting, said that

Bridge and an associate had driven to Parklands Shopping Mall where Bridge had smashed the front window of the pharmacy with a pipe , wrench. He then took a big quantity of codeinebased drugs, went to an address in Aspen Place, Parklands, and secreted the drugs under a tree in the garden. Sergeant Wood said Bridge was stopped in a car on the way into the city and was seen to attempt to hide a folded piece of paper under the dashboard. It was found that the substance in the paper was morphine. A search warrant at Bridge’s rented premises was executed on Decern- * ber 30. The police found a

suitcase containing laboratory equipment in the bedroom as well as codeine-based tablets in the room and round the

house. A device had been fitted to a bathroom tap, and equipment and other substances found were all that was needed for the manufacture of homebake morphine. Sergeant Wood said that when Bridge arrived home during the search he had said he knew the equipment’s capabilities but was merely looking after it for a friend. Bridge had later admitted the equipment was his. The rifle had been found in the house. Judge Sheehan convicted Bridge and remanded him on bail, for a probation report, to May 28.