A WARRNAMBOOL man who avoided jail on appeal to the County Court last week was yesterday again charged with serious drug offences and remanded in custody.
Lindsay Douglas White, 49, of Baker Grove, appeared in Warrnambool Magistrates Court for a bail application after being arrested and charged by Warrnambool police with possessing amphetamine and possessing a traffickable amount of amphetamine — four grams of speed.
Warrnambool County Court judge Bill Stuart last Thursday blasted south-west magistrates for sentencing offenders such as White to jail terms when he believed there were other options.
He made scathing comments while downgrading a two-month prison term for White to a $300 fine.
Yesterday the court heard that as well as the possession charges laid yesterday, White also faces counts of burglary, theft, possess amphetamine and cannabis, which breached a previously-suspended two-month jail sentence.
Those charges relate to the burglary of a disused building in Wentworth Street on May 1.
They also relate to the theft of weights while White was alleged to be in possession of cannabis.
Police also allege that on July 14 White was found in possession of drug paraphernalia and seven grams of amphetamine valued at $5000.
White entered guilty pleas earlier this week to those charges and to breaching his suspended sentence. Those charges will be finalised on October 16.
Yesterday Warrnambool police constable Patrick Lynch told the court he was on divisional van duty yesterday in Fleetwood Court when he noticed White was not wearing a correctly fitted helmet while riding his bike. He said a search located a small plastic bag containing five grams of white powder believed to be amphetamine in a glasses case inside White’s jacket pocket.
White claims the powder is pseudoephedrine.
The appeal in the County Court came about after White was previously found guilty of dealing in property suspected of being the proceeds of crime ($450 in cash) and two counts of possessing cannabis.
Those offences breached a two-month suspended sentence which was imposed in May last year for possession and use of amphetamine.
On October 4 last year White received a total effective sentence of two months’ imprisonment which led to his appeal to the County Court.
Yesterday magistrate Jonathan Klestadt refused bail and remanded White in custody.
The magistrate noted that White was arrested yesterday while riding a bike, indicating his injuries were not as severe as the court had previously been led to believe.