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

In the following section, we will discuss how lawful excuses for being found on, entering or leaving drug premises were considered at
court. Cases in which people who were charged with this offence were visiting drug premises are discussed, as are cases in which the
person/s charged with this offence lived at the premises.
We also set out available demographic information about people who were charged with this offence. Data was also available from the
BOCSAR in relation to some of those charged. This data shows whether they pleaded guilty or not guilty to the charge, and the court
outcomes.
6.4.1. A lawful excuse for being found on drug premises
No clear patterns emerged in relation to the circumstances in which a lawful excuse was accepted, or not accepted, by the courts. We
have set out below a series of case studies to demonstrate the range of circumstances in which people were found on drug premises,
and the varying outcomes of these cases at court.
Case study 7.
Being found on non-domestic drug premises in Cabramatta
Police were granted a Part 2 search warrant to search a house in Cabramatta, 474 and began conducting surveillance that
afternoon. During their surveillance, police saw a number of people coming and going, and several vehicles pull up and drive off
again.
Police executed the search warrant at about 7.30 that night, proceeding to the rear door of the house. It was opened by one of
the occupants, and shut again. Police forced entry, ramming the front and rear doors. As they did so, the rear bedroom window
was smashed and four men jumped out, fleeing over the neighbour’s fence. The men sustained injuries from the shattered glass.
Police arrested one man as he attempted to jump the fence, and another was chased and arrested on a nearby street corner.
Officers gained entry to the house after about 20 seconds, and two men were immediately arrested. A third 25 year old man,
found hiding in a cupboard in one of the bedrooms, was arrested soon after. In the event narrative, police described the premises
in the following way:
The premises was barely furnished with only the bare essentials. Only one room within the premises contained a bed.
None of the wardrobes within the premises contained clothing. The remainder of the premises were littered with rubbish. 475
Ten minutes later, police saw a young man who had fled standing on a garage roof next door, bleeding from a deep laceration to
his hand. They enticed him down and he was then arrested. All of the seven were treated by an ambulance. Two stayed behind
while police executed the search warrant, and the others were taken to Cabramatta Police Station and charged.
When they searched the house, police found 73.1 grams of heroin packaged in 115 balloons and 52 silver foils in the kitchen
and dining room. They also found a number of square pieces of silver foil, tiny water balloons and syringes. In the bedroom and
lounge room, police found other property, including televisions, stereos and mobile phones that they believed had been unlawfully
obtained.
When interviewed, one of the occupants, a 16 year old male, claimed that he had only been on the premises for several hours
before police arrived and had not noticed any suspicious activity. Nor had he noticed the balloons and foil on the lounge room
floor. Another defendant, a 17 year old male, denied any knowledge of the drugs and said he had arrived 10 minutes before
police executed the search warrant. Police note that this was “contradicted by police surveillance”. 476 The police event narrative
stated:
At the time of the warrant there appeared to be no responsible adult within the premises. When asked who owned the
premises all of the persons claimed not to know and were only there for the purpose of visiting a friend. 477
No charges were laid in relation to the drugs found on the premises. Police have advised us that this was because the occupants
had fled, and this presumably created difficulties in proving that particular people had control or possession of the prohibited
drugs that were found on the premises.
474 Search warrant documents were not provided, so the circumstances surrounding the decision to apply for the search warrant are not known.
475 COPS event narrative, Drug Premises Incident 10, Cabramatta LAC.
476 Ibid.
477 Ibid.
NSW Ombudsman
Review of the Police Powers (Drug Premises) Act 2001 87