Review of the Police Powers (Drug Premises) Act 2001 - NSW ...

During their search, police officers also found items that may have been used to protect the property and safety of the occupants,
including a .22 calibre rifle and a floor mounted safe. 289 Police concluded that “from the set up of the house and the surveillance in place it
is believed that the premises are used as a drug house.” 290
5.2.2.4. How security measures were considered at court
Several court cases we examined for this review considered the security measures on identified drug premises. The questions that
emerged concerned when the security devices had been affixed to the premises, and whether these measures were unusual for the area.
In one court case involving the use of the legislation in Cabramatta, there was some discussion of when steel bars had been put on a unit.
The case involved a man who had been visiting the premises when the search warrant was executed, but had also previously lived on the
premises. He was charged with being found on, entering or leaving drug premises. In court, the man said that the bars had been put on
the unit while he was living there, but that the real estate agent had also put bars on five other units in the same block. 291 He was convicted
of being found on drug premises, and was given a 12 month bond. 292
In another case, also in Cabramatta, police intending to execute a search warrant on suspected fortified drug premises accidentally went
to the unit next door when they went to execute the search warrant. In court, one of the police officers described what happened:
… police then forced entry to a large iron door to gain access to the interior wooden door. At the same time, police were yelling
out “Police, open the door, open the door”. Police then attempted to force entry to the wooden door, it was then that I noticed the
number 1 at the top of the door which was covered in paint of similar colour to the paint on the door. I then told the police to stop
what they were doing. 293
When the police officer was cross examined, it was established that there was no difference between the fortification on both units. The
police officer said:
…A lot of places are fortified for - I mean some have you know - a lot have the big iron doors for legitimate purposes, some just
have normal screen doors. But as a – its only an indicator… just one of the indicators. 294
The police officer also told the court that a hole had been cut in the “fortified screen door so [the occupants] can open the interior door
and they will just do the drug transaction”. 295 According to the officer, this was to avoid drug rip offs and cash robberies. 296 In relation to
the fortifications, the magistrate found that the there were certain conclusions that the court could draw from “the door being fortified,
the hole in the screen”. 297 This evidence, together with the presence of a syringe and foil and a razor blade on the premises, and police
observations of people coming to the house, led the magistrate to conclude that the premises was a drug premises.
On another occasion, also in Cabramatta, a woman charged with allowing her premises to be used as drug premises had put bars on
the windows and doors of the house which she was renting. At court, the fortifications on the premises were discussed at some length. 298
It was established that when the woman was first interviewed, she had told police that the bars had been put on the house because
her house had been broken into. At court, her explanation for the security on the premises changed. The woman said that her former
boyfriend was a jeweller and the bars were put on the house to protect valuable jewellery. When she was cross examined, the woman
conceded that the house had not been broken into, but that someone had tried to get in by kicking the door, but had not succeeded. 299 In
his judgement, the magistrate said the following in relation to the security on the house, and the woman’s explanation for it:
The window and door fortifications with bars, which I have to say is unusual, well, its not unusual for Sydney, but it is unusual to
perform such substantial work on a rented flat. That may or may not have been too unusual had the explanation for it not been so
worryingly or suspiciously inconsistent between the record of interview and Ms Non’s evidence today in the witness box. 300
289 Ibid. Police also found property they believed to be stolen, scales, and resealable plastic bags. The occupant was charged with allowing his
premises to be used as drug premises, and was also charged with various firearms and goods in custody offences.
290 COPS event narrative, Greater Hume Region, Drug Premises Incident 34.
291 Liverpool Local Court, Police v. Thuy Dat Vang, 9 November 2001, p. 8
292 Ibid.
293 Liverpool Local Court, Police v. Dang Nihn Nguyen, 4 December 2001, p. 6.
294 Ibid, p. 20.
295 Ibid, p. 19.
296 Ibid, p. 19.
297 Ibid, p. 7.
298 In addition, surveillance footage of a large people arriving at the premises, and leaving a short time later, the fact that people continued to arrive at
the premises during the execution of the search warrant, and that a woman was found by police with two foils of heroin in her possession after she
had just left the premises, were also relied upon by the prosecution to argue that the premises were drug premises.
299 Liverpool Local Court, Police v. Sim Non, 29 June 2003, p. 10.
300 Ibid, p. 18-19.
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NSW Ombudsman
Review of the Police Powers (Drug Premises) Act 2001