SA lawyer Andrew Graham faces court for using cocaine in a nightclub and trying to bribe a security officer with a $50 note
He was caught snorting cocaine off a key in a nightclub toilet, but this Adelaide lawyer says he didn’t realise he had committed a criminal offence until he was “educated” by arresting police.
Police & Courts
Don't miss out on the headlines from Police & Courts. Followed categories will be added to My News.
- Lawyer pleads guilty on first day of cocaine trial
- How to get the most out of your Advertiser digital subscription
A lawyer caught snorting cocaine off a key in the toilets of a city nightclub had to be “educated”, by police, that he had committed a criminal offence, a court has heard.
On Monday, counsel for Andrew Robert Graham said their client believed his actions would result in a date with a court-run drug diversion program, not the District Court.
Barrister Marie Shaw QC said Graham was, at the time, labouring under an “incredible sense of loss” over the imminent closure of his beloved community football club.
That sadness, she said, saw him resort to his habitual methods of coping with emotional stress – binge drinking and cocaine consumption.
“His state of mind while in the toilets, even while he was talking to police, was that this matter was a drug diversion at worst,” she said.
“He can be heard, on the police bodycam recording, saying ‘this is a drug diversion at worst, isn’t it?’ … the police responded to him that it was an offence.
“He made it plain he was not aware of that … the police, in effect, educated him.”
Graham, 36, of Vale Park, was due to stand trial last month one count of attempting to pervert the course of justice.
Instead – and after several hours of negotiation between prosecution and defence counsel – Graham pleaded guilty to the charge.
He had earlier pleaded guilty to administering a controlled drug to another person.
Both charges arose from of a single incident at a city nightclub in August 2019.
On Monday, Ms Shaw said Graham had consumed cocaine and alcohol before arriving at the Woolshed on Hindley St, where he saw two men using the drug in the toilets.
She said he approached them, “bummed” some of the drug and suggested that, rather than snorting it off their mobile phones, they should use their keys.
When the trio did so, they were caught by a security guard – Graham offered him a $50 note to let them leave the toilet, but the guard refused and they were arrested.
Ms Shaw said Graham had developed substance abuse problems while holding himself to “unrelenting standards” and, on the night, succumbed to “a moment of madness”.
Prosecutor Jim Pearce QC agreed with that assessment.
“A ‘moment of madness’ perfectly describes what happened in that toilet at 4am after a night of drinking and consuming drugs,” he said.
“He has not committed this offence in the course of his work as a legal practitioner … he does not get any favours for being a lawyer, but nor does he get punished extra for it.
“His real battle lies elsewhere – his career hangs by a gossamer thread.”
Chief Judge Michael Evans remanded Graham on continuing bail for sentencing next month.