Charges of possess prohibited drug and custody of a knife in a courthouse dismissed under a non-conviction order

Our client was initially charged with possessing a prohibited drug and due to attend court at Waverley New South Wales.

However, during the security screening process on arrival at court, he was found to be in possession of a knife, which led to him being charged with a further offence and arrested at the scene.

As our client went through courthouse security, officers located a 10cm knife with a 4cm blade attached to his keychain. Court security confiscated the knife, took his details, and reported the matter to Waverley Police who rushed in and arrested him.

Our client cooperated, provided his personal details, and admitted possessing the knife, explaining that he used the knife for practical purposes such as daily maintenance, which is a defence for a charge of possessing a knife in a public place.

Our client was ultimately convicted of the offence by the Magistrate and lodged an appeal to the District Court of New South Wales.

At the appeal hearing, our team made lenghty submissions on behalf our client including, but not limited to:

-       The innocent reason for possessing the knife;

-       The lack of prior convictions;

-       His early admissions and full cooperations with both court staff and police;

-       The minimal risk posed by the offence, with no suggestion the knife was used or displayed in a threatening manner and the lack of any intentional concealment of the knife.

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The District Court ultimately accepted our submissions that it was a simple, understandable mistake that was over-exaggerated and set aside the conviction and instead imposed a Conditional Release Order(CRO) without conviction for a period of 9 months.

This favourable outcome ensured our client avoided a criminal record, allowing him to move forward without the lasting impact of a conviction.

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