Man not punished on unusual charge

23rd November 2009

AN IPSWICH magistrate has refused to punish a man for having a liquid used to test the chemical content of illegal drugs.

Magistrate Matthew McLaughlin said young people should not be discouraged from using the over-the-counter chemical because it was impossible to know what pills such as “ecstasy” actually contained.

“If we’re sending the message to people not to have these kits we’re telling young people to kill themselves,” he said.

Mr McLaughlin made the comments while sentencing 30-year-old Timothy Jack Wayne Burrett in Ipswich Magistrates Court this week, after he was caught with the pill-testing chemical.

The court heard police searched Burrett’s home in Yamanto on October 17, discovering the chemical in a glass container on the fridge and 0.1 gram of cannabis on a coffee table.

Prosecutor Senior Constable Brad Dick said Burrett told police he had used the chemical to test the purity of an ecstasy tablet a year ago.

Burrett pleaded guilty to possessing a dangerous drug and possessing a chemical that had been used in the administration of a dangerous drug.

The concreter was fined $500 for the cannabis.

But Mr McLaughlin did not further punish Burrett for the testing chemical, with no conviction recorded.

“It’s a most unusual charge,” Mr McLaughlin said. “While technically it is an offence is seems to be a very trivial offence.”