Possession of 6 Tablets - Section 10 Dismissal, No Conviction

Represented a client from Canberra who was caught with 6 ecstasy tablets at a music festival and charged (fortunately) with possessing a prohibited drug.

The client was otherwise unknown to police and after providing him with thorough advice, he accepted the advice and instructed me to seek the Magistrate’s referral to the MERIT programme.

He attended the programme, being a 3 month course that does not interfere with one’s work, studies or family commitments to a great extent and which has a high success rate.

Due to the client’s studies and chosen career path, a conviction for a drug offence was going to likely to set back his career before it even started.

On sentence, the Magistrate appreciated our candid submissions that this was not a young man who was going to try to convince the Court that he was a first-time user (due to not previously coming to the notice of police) and was instead someone who admitted to a problem that he wished to properly address it.

His Honour accepted our submissions to exercise his discretion and the matter was dismissed pursuant to section 10 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act, without a criminal conviction being recorded.