By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim The medicinal benefits of cannabis have become widely accepted in Australia. Indeed, the Turnbull government passed legislation in February 2016, which set up a licensing scheme for “the cultivation and production of cannabis and cannabis resin for medicinal and scientific purposes.” However, the establishment of legalised medicinal cannabis has been… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim On the evening of 26 May 2016, NSW police executed a search warrant at the Westmead home of Shahab Jawosh. During the search, officers seized a range of drugs, including 286 grams of opium, 30 grams of methamphetamine, 0.44 grams of MDMA and 173 grams of cannabis. Police located… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim After receiving information that one Aaron Edward Hutchinson was involved in the supply of prohibited drugs in the Penrith local area command, police began an investigation in early 2010. An undercover operation was arranged and, in April, Mr Hutchinson supplied an undercover officer with cocaine on three separate occasions…. Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim At around 9.30 one morning, NSW police officers were at a flat on Murray Street in Port Macquarie investigating an incident, when the phone rang. An officer answered and told the caller the occupant wasn’t home. The caller rang again two minutes later. This time, the officer recognised the… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim NSW police don’t have the power to randomly search people’s vehicles. If an officer does search a vehicle, they must have a suspicion on reasonable grounds for doing so. The police powers to stop and search people and their vehicles without a warrant are contained in the Law Enforcement… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Last week, the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal (NSWCCA) determined that a precedent followed by the state’s courts had become a “judicially imposed constraint”. That rule stated that a person convicted of a substantial drug supply must be sentenced to full time imprisonment unless there were ‘exceptional circumstances’. Over… Read more »
By Paul Gregoire and Ugur Nedim Between March and June 2014, Matthew “Fatty” Stapleton was under investigation by the NSW police for mid-level supply of methamphetamine. Officers were granted the power to conduct a controlled operation, and recordings suggested that Mr Stapleton and Shane Mooney were associates. On 16 May 2014, Stapleton contacted an undercover officer and… Read more »
The offence of drug driving, unlike drink driving, does not require you to have a certain level of drugs in your system at the time of driving – any amount is enough. This means that even drugs taken days ago, which no longer have any effect on your driving ability, could still see you being… Read more »
The Family Drug Treatment Court of Victoria (the FDTC) was established in May 2014 by Magistrate Greg Levine, who had spent years heading the Children’s Court of Victoria – as well as countless hours researching similar family drug court initiatives in the USA and UK. Since its inception, the Court has helped parents overcome their… Read more »
Margaret Elizabeth Flack, a 55-year-old widow living in Glebe, Sydney was astonished when police searched her home and found a briefcase containing almost half a million dollars in cash. She wasn’t aware of its existence, and police couldn’t find the true owner. Both the authorities and Mrs Flack believed it was theirs! But who got… Read more »
