Client facing prison sentence for drug charges gets a section 10 Dismissal!

A client was charged with cultivate a prohibited plant (15 cannabis plants), possess prohibited drug (cannabis) and possess a prohibited drug (thirty cannabis seeds). Not only was our client very concerned that if he was convicted for any of these offences and received a criminal record, it may have a significant impact on his life including his ability to travel overseas, but he was also aware that for the charge of cultivate a prohibited plant the maximum fine was $220,000.00 and 10 years imprisonment.

After we discussed the matter with our client at length he instructed us that he wished to plead guilty to each of these offences.

We spoke to our client about his lifestyle, employment and family and prepared detailed and balanced submissions for the Court. This client had some medical issues that he was struggling to deal with and he instructed us that he was using the cannabis to self medicate.

After making careful submissions to the Magistrate highlighting the factors favourable to our client, we were successfully able to convince the Magistrate to dismiss all of the charges pursuant to section 10 1 b) of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act and place our client on a Good Behaviour Bond for 12 months. This resulted in our client not having any convictions recorded against his name and maintaining a clean criminal record. We were also able to convince the Magistrate to not impose any monetary fine at all.