“The community does not endorse the deaths of young people from drug taking.”
This was the stern message Bunbury Magistrate Brian Mahon issued to a Perth teenager who was caught by police with drugs twice in three days at last year’s School Leavers in Dunsborough.
Thomas Julian Hotchkiss, 18, appeared in Bunbury Magistrates Court on Monday and admitted having 0.5 grams of cannabis and a cone piece in his possession on the first day of Leavers after being detected by a drug dog.
He was then arrested on the third day of Leavers for having 13 MDMA tablets hidden inside his car during a drug search at Dunsborough Lakes Caravan Park.
Defence lawyer Helen Prince told the court her client had gone to Leavers to “party and take pills” and was consuming five MDMA tablets personally each day. He also admitted to police when interviewed that he had supplied tablets to two other people without financial gain.
“The kids hear us oldies say drugs are bad but they don’t believe it,” she said.
Mr Mahon adjourned the matter for two hours to consider the defense’s application for a spent conviction order and told the court in the afternoon he had done what he could to put things fairly in Mr Hotchkiss’ favour.
“Events like school leavers present a challenge to the authorities and in that setting, young people can lose their lives to drugs,” he said.
“The first time you were caught should have served as a heads up loud and clear and if you had admitted on that day that you also had MDMA you would have been in a bit more trouble, but you would have got a spent conviction from me.
“Because you didn’t own up, or dispose of the drugs, you were caught again and I take the matter of drug distribution very seriously when young people are involved.”
Mr Mahon granted a spent conviction order on the first set of charges but said the second set could not receive the same treatment. He also fined Hotchkiss $3400 and court costs of $188.
“These steps have given me no pleasure as you are a young man who has much to offer – your efforts to move away from a drug culture since you were caught shows me you have learnt a valuable lesson,” Mr Mahon said.
“But parents are entitled to feel confident that the court does not trivialise matters such as this.”