Part 2: What happens when you’re caught

So you’ve been snitched on by an adorable, four-legged traitor.

The police have asked you to come with them. You cooperate with their search, even if you don’t consent. A key thing to remember is not to lie to the police, but don’t admit to anything outside what they can see – they might try and get you to admit to further crimes, like supplying to another person, or even antagonise you into arguing or becoming aggressive. It’s very important to remain calm and cooperative.

If they find anything, they will serve you with a court order.

It’s recommended to obtain legal assistance – lawyer up, guys. The professionals will be able to explain your individual situation and help you decide the best option far better than reading this blog post.

Lawyers may recommend programs such as the MERIT program – or Magistrate’s Early Referral To Treatment – that allows adults to voluntarily work toward substance abuse rehabilitation. A lawyer can enter you into such a program to show the court you had a problem with illegal substances and/or the law, but you are taking decisive steps to fix it.

This will give you a greater chance of receiving a Section 10 verdict.

A Section 10 refers to Section 10 of the Crimes Act 1999, which pretty much means they find you guilty of a crime, but they don’t charge you or give you a criminal record. It’s definitely worth reading up on the Act, which can be found here.

However, if you get charged, you can serve jail time or receive a fine.

-EY

 

What happens if you’re caught?

Okay, picture this.

You and your mates have bought tickets to Listen Out and you’re all hyped af to go. Someone in your group chat has contacted their friendly neighbourhood drug dealer, and wants to know what everyone wants.

You aint no pussfoot, so you ask for two pingas so you can properly jam out to RüFüS.

However, as you’re enjoying a casual beer and some lunch on the grass with your drugs tucked discreetly in your wallet, you feel a cold, wet something against your arm. You turn around, and you see an adorable dog sitting behind you, wagging his fluffy tail proudly. hehe, cute dog.

Mate, you’re at a festival. Behind the adorable dog who is thinking “OH MAN, I AM A GOOD BOY!” are two slightly-less-cute police officers, who are now asking you to come with them. You’re sprung, more than that time when a girl walked in with an itty-bitty waist and a round thing in your face.

What do you do?

At events like Listen Out, police will often have a general search warrant for the event and surrounding area. This means they have the right to search you if they have reasonable suspicion (like the cute fluffy traitor who sat down next to you). Unfortunately, “reasonable suspicion” is a broad term, which can include being nervous at the sight of police or dogs, or just generally looking sketchy (according to your new friends wearing blue).

If you get stopped by police on reasonable suspicion, and you don’t comply with their requests, like to turn out your pockets, you can be detained. It’s honestly best to just comply with the police, even if you think the sniffer dog just wanted a bit of your pork roll. However, if you really don’t agree to be searched, the best thing to do is to tell them that you do not consent to be searched, but you will co-operate.

If you get caught with illicit substances, do not lie to the police. They know.

You have a right to avoid self-incrimination, but most people admit it was for personal use. This looks better when you get charged for possession, and if you haven’t consented to be searched but you co-operated, the court can decide the search was unlawful and you’ll probably get a better result.

If you get caught with illicit substances at a festival, chances are you’re going to get kicked out with no refund, which is in the Terms and Conditions of buying your ticket. You can also receive a permanent ban from the festival, depending on the organisers.

Oftentimes, the police will issue you a summons or a court attendance notice for you to attend at a later date.

Stay tuned for more details about what to do in Part 2 of this post!

-EY