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 »
For years, smoking has become the subject of increasing government regulation – from where you can smoke, to where you can buy cigarettes and even what kind of packaging they can be supplied in. Staggered legislation is squeezing smokers out of an growing number of public places, and in July, the latest in a long… Read more »
Drug importation is one of the most serious crimes in Australia – potentially carrying a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. But how would you feel if you were accused of being a drug smuggler when you didn’t even know that drugs were in your luggage? And perhaps more importantly, are you guilty if you were… Read more »
Some drugs, such as crystal methamphetamine hydrochloride – more commonly known as ‘ice’ – can make users do things they would normally never do. Using ice can result in paranoia, hallucination, depression, memory loss and loss of ability to make decisions. It can have a more intense ‘high’ than other amphetamines like speed. Imagine waking… Read more »
There are thousands-upon-thousands of types of criminal offences in NSW, and it is unlikely that there are many of us that haven’t committed a crime at some point in our lives. Many of us may have received a parking or speeding ticket, but not all offences are classified as ‘criminal’ and will lead to a… Read more »
Research from the Australian Institute of Criminology has found that arrests due to drug charges have increased in recent years, and cannabis remains the most common drug accounting for arrest. The number of those arrested on drug charges relating to cannabis has been growing by about three per cent per year. Most of those facing… Read more »
While Bega may be well known for its cheese, the Bega Local Court and District Court are also becoming increasingly familiar with drug offenders. The cheese may have put Bega on the map, but other, less legal farm produce has recently made Bega come under the police radar. A string of cases earlier this year… Read more »
Underlying problems like drug and alcohol addiction, as well as particular problems faced by Aboriginal offenders, mean that various alternative programs are now supplementing more traditional methods of sentencing in NSW Courts. These sentencing alternatives focus on community involvement, rehabilitation or even, in the case of forum sentencing, discussions between victim and offender as part… Read more »
Like father, like son is certainly not something that could be said about the Macris Family in relation to serious drug charges when they appeared in the Gosford District Court earlier this May. In 2011, the son, Alex Macris did something many people would find unimaginable – he used his own father as an unwitting… Read more »