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

In the granny flat, police found caustic soda, a gas iron hot plate, and a bag and several containers with white and pink powder
residue. Forensic swabs were taken inside the granny flat. It was here that police believed that the drug manufacturing had
taken place. Outside the house, in a garbage container in the backyard, police found the charred remains of pseudoephedrine
boxes of various brand names, including Sudafed and Logicin.
The woman was a joint lessee on the premises. Her boyfriend had the only key to the granny flat outside. The woman’s lawyer
argued that she had a lawful excuse for being on the premises because it was her home.
The magistrate noted that the evidence of drug manufacturing was found throughout the house, in the garbage bin outside,
and in the granny flat. He also took account of the fact that police believed that the drug manufacturing was taking place in the
granny flat, and that the woman’s boyfriend had the only key. But in considering whether the woman had a lawful excuse for
being on the premises, the magistrate concluded:
I must look at the whole of the evidence. The process of manufacture involves getting materials, treatment of them and
disposition residues. In this case in the garbage bin. It is not to the point to say that manufacture occurs only where the
chemical reaction takes place, even if it was in the granny flat.
I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt the whole of the property was being used for the purposes of drug manufacture and
beyond reasonable doubt the defendant was found on those premises. 515
The magistrate did not accept the argument that was put the woman’s lawyer that she was the joint lessee of the premises,
and was therefore on the premises for a lawful purpose:
There is an evidentiary onus on the defendant to establish on the balance of probabilities her purpose there was lawful.
There is no doubt she was the joint lessee. However, in the circumstances of this case where indicia of the manufacture of
prohibited drugs was extant throughout the premises, I am not satisfied she has discharged the onus upon her. 516
The woman received a twelve month good behaviour bond.
These court cases, in which the drug premises in question were used for domestic purposes and for illicit drug activity, highlight
the fact that it is possible to have both a lawful and an unlawful purpose for being on drug premises.
6.6. Demographic characteristics of people charged with being found on
drug premises
In this section, we outline the available demographic information on people who were charged with being found on, entering or leaving
drug premises.
The tables set out below show that seven per cent of those charged with a first offence of being found on drug premises were under 18.
One person charged with a second offence of being found on drug premises was under 18.
The graph below shows the ages of people charged with being found on, entering or leaving, drug premises.
515 Toronto Local Court, Police v. Roxanne Arohanui Rollinson, 7 August 2002, p. 8.
516 Ibid.
NSW Ombudsman
Review of the Police Powers (Drug Premises) Act 2001 93