A MAN charged with drug trafficking has been refused bail to attend a rehabilitation centre as a magistrate feared she could not order him to stay there.
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Magistrate Cynthia Toose said in general, rehabilitation centre guidelines allowed attendees to go home every fourth weekend.
She said that was “simply not appropriate”.
Robert Phillip Kardum, 28, previously of Warrnambool and Noble Park, unsuccessfully applied for bail in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court and was remanded in custody until August 17.
Ms Toose said that Mr Kardum's past had caught up with him, that he needed to show compelling reasons to be granted bail and he had not reached that standard.
She said Mr Kardum was now charged with breaching a community corrections order with significant new offending.
Ms Toose said the rehab centre did great work but was not suitable for someone like Mr Kardum who was an unacceptable risk of continuing to offend.
She said a corrections order with a rehabilitation centre conditions was a prospect when Mr Kardum's matters were finalised in court.
Police said that at 2.30am on June 1, Mr Kardum was pulled over in Wanstead Street and questioned about evading police three weeks prior.
A search of his vehicle found four rounds of ammunition, an ice pipe, medication, empty zip lock bags, jewellery, a sawn-off rifle barrel, one gram of cocaine and a mobile phone which contained detailed messages relating to drug dealing.
Mr Kardum is already on a community corrections order imposed for a range of offending including trespass, causing damage, reckless conduct endangering life, evading police, theft, driving at a dangerous speed and possessing an imitation firearm.
Lawyer Jennifer Tinetti said her client had spent 59 days in custody and he wanted to receive assistance for his drug issues.
She said he had been found suitable for a three-month stint in rehab and she had a letter of placement.
Ms Toose said Mr Kardum had significant prior offending and he was an unacceptable risk of further offending.
She said while rehabilitation was important, that so was protection of the community.
The magistrate said Mr Kardum could have sought rehab any time during the past four years but he had failed to do so.
