Possession of Crack not admissible in cannabis Youth Court trial
Laura O’Brien represented a client in the Youth Court who had been charged with Possession with Intent to Supply cannabis. He had been riding in a car with friends. He was in possession of a bag of cannabis. When the car was stopped his friends were found to be in possession of a large quantity of Crack Cocaine. Our client was unaware of this. He was charged with the cannabis offence only. He denied he was intending to supply.
In most cases in the Youth Court the prosecution will accept a plea to simple possession of a Class B drug providing the quantity is not huge. On this occasion they refused. At trial the prosecutor sought to rely on evidence of the presence of the Crack Cocaine. This was challenged. It was unfair to our client and the prosecution case summary confirmed that there was no evidence our client was aware of the presence of Class A drugs. The District Judge ruled that the evidence was not admissible. At the close of the prosecution case Laura made a submission of no case to answer which was successful.
Laura O’Brien Youth Court and drugs expert did this case