Legal Practice Director, Daniel Shestowsky appeared on behalf of a client at Liverpool Local Court who pled guilty to possessing a prohibited drug on 3 different occasions, possessing drug administering equipment and driving a vehicle with drug present in oral fluid.
Drug Possession and Driving with a Drug present in Oral Fluid
Our client was a 21 year old woman who was suffering from a variety of mental health issues at the time of her offending. She had made the unfortunate decision to self-medicate for those issues and was found on three separate occasions by the Police with drugs in her car. She was subsequently charged with possessing a prohibited drug on those three occasions as well as possessing drug administering equipment (a bong) as well as driving a vehicle with drug present in her saliva. For each of the possession offences, our client faced a maximum penalty of 2 years imprisonment, while for the driving offence she faced a criminal conviction as well as a potential licence disqualification period.
Sentencing at Liverpool Local Court
Our client approached Australian Lawyers and Advocates to seek advice and legal representation. She was facing the very real prospect of a criminal conviction and a disqualification of her licence, possible hampering her future aspirations of travel and employment. The number and seriousness of these charges would have ordinarily resulted in our client being unlikely to avoid criminal convictions. However, Mr Shestowsky made sure the Court was made aware of our client’s mental health background, her early pleas of guilty and the steps she had taken to facilitate her own rehabilitation. The Magistrate felt that our client’s risk of reoffending were low and her prospects of rehabilitation quite positive and ultimately dealt with the matters without recording a criminal conviction. Our client also avoided any licence disqualification period.
This case highlights the importance of engaging lawyers who are able to identify and highlight the key mitigating features of our client’s matters through expert advocacy. Our client was ecstatic that these charges will now not pose a significant impediment to her future aspirations of travel and employment.
