By CAM LUCADOU-WELLS
A FIRST-TIME drug trafficker was placed on a 12-month community corrections order without conviction after police seized cannabis from his Berwick house.
Under a drug search warrant, police seized a bag of 28 grams of cannabis, numerous plastic zip-lock bags, a gram of cannabis in a deal bag and digital scales from the man’s bedroom on 26 February, a court was told.
The accused’s mobile phone contained text messages referring to cannabis deals.
The 22-year-old made “full and frank” admissions to police about his trafficking, Dandenong Magistrates’ Court was told on 15 June.
His lawyer told the court the man had been “brought to his senses in time”, having started using for six months after a “broken romance”.
“He got a number of debts, and this was a means of overcoming those debts,” the lawyer said.
“There’s every chance he’ll retire.”
As part of his CCO, the accused was ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work – half of which could be offset by 50 hours of drug and mental health treatment.
Magistrate Jack Vandersteen said he wouldn’t convict the man because of his youth, lack of priors and full admissions.
He warned the man not to let the “wheels really fall off”.
“(In that case) you lose your family and friends and the only other people you hang out with are other drug users.”
