Former Barkly Mayor Jeffrey McLaughlin fined for possessing two cannabis plants, drug driving

The mayor – who was dismissed from his post in 2024 – was hit with the charges while in office, and has now pleaded guilty to them, but some ‘serious’ charges against him were dropped. Find out why.

Former Barkly Regional Council mayor Jeffrey McLaughlin with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

A former Northern Territory Mayor has been banned from driving for three months and ordered to pay a fine for drug driving and possessing two “not exactly prodigious in size” cannabis plants, as some more “serious offences” against him were dropped.

On Monday, former Barkly Regional Council mayor Jeffrey McLaughlin, 46, pleaded guilty in the Alice Springs Local Court to drug related offences.

He pleaded guilty to driving with a prohibited drug in his body, cultivating less than a trafficable quantity of a prohibited plant, and possessing less than a trafficable quantity of a schedule two substance.

Former Barkly Regional Council Mayor Jeffrey McLaughlin

McLaughlin appeared via videolink on his phone, and entered his guilty pleas as prosecutor Andrew Lonergan read out the charges and Judge Anthony Hopkins listened.

McLaughlin’s possession and cultivation charges date back to 2022.

While mayor of the Barkly Regional Council, McLaughlin cultivated two cannabis plants, which he shared with “his friends and neighbours”, Mr Lonergan said.

Police discovered the plants and 19.35 grams of cannabis when they searched his Tennant Creek home in September 2022, Mr Lonergan said.

McLaughlin was then slapped with the driving charge in February 2023.

He was arrested after police pulled him over on Paterson St in Tennant Creek and conducted a random drug and alcohol test, the court heard.

McLaughlin was also charged with supplying less than a commercial quantity of a schedule two drug, but the charge was dropped this week, while another charge of driving under the influence of drugs was dropped back in 2024.

Defence lawyer Simon Lapinski challenged how impaired his client actually was behind the wheel.

Defence lawyer Simon Lapinski enters the Alice Springs Local Court. Picture: Gera Kazakov

“There’s no suggestion he was actually intoxicated by the effect of cannabis when he was driving the vehicle,” Mr Lapinski said.

“There’s no suggestion of any impairment when driving the vehicle.

“There’s no suggestion of any untoward driving whilst driving the vehicle.

McLaughlin had the cannabis plants in his backyard for his personal consumption, as it “was an effective way of managing stress and anxiety”, Mr Lapinski said.

“Subsequently, after being arrested for this offence he consulted a medical professional, he obtained a prescription from a medicinal cannabis which he continues to this day,” he said.

Mr Lapinski asked for the charges to be dismissed by way of a section 10 dismissal, but Mr Lonergan said it was a “significant factor” McLaughlin was found guilty.

“It was a disrespect to his office and the Tennant Creek community that he engaged in these offences while he was in office,” Mr Lonergan said.

Judge Hopkins did not dismiss the charges, instead opting to not record a conviction against McLaughlin.

Alice Springs Local Court: Picture: Gera Kazakov

McLaughlin also was also disqualified from driving for three months and fined $450 by Judge Hopkins.

He said the plants found in McLaughlin’s possession were “not exactly prodigious in size” and noted how they were significantly “under the 50 grams that would have been the minimum for an infringement notice or the maximum for an infringement notice to have been issued”.

“But, you were charged with significantly more serious offences which you have defended and ultimately they have been withdrawn,” Judge Hopkins said.

The finalisation of the drug charges end a tumultuous three years for McLaughlin.

In 2024, the entire Barkly Regional Council – including McLaughlin – were dismissed following the release of a report by Ruth Morley, who investigated the council’s conduct between January 2022 to October 2023.

Her findings accused McLaughlin and then council chief executive Emma Bradbury of acting with a conflict of interest – an allegation both have previously denied.

A separate police investigation into a controversial citizen’s arrest by McLaughlin also concluded last year, with police finalising the matter without laying any charges.

A video of the act – which is about 20 minutes long – showed McLaughlin restraining a young Indigenous boy in Tennant Creek.

Speaking with this masthead in the wake of the video being released, McLaughlin defended himself, as protests erupted in Tennant Creek, calling for him to resign.

“On August 21, 2023, I made a citizen’s arrest of a youth attempting to break into my family home, as I am lawfully entitled to,” he said at the time.

McLaughlin has since left the NT and now resides in QLD.

Originally published as Former Barkly Mayor Jeffrey McLaughlin fined for possessing two cannabis plants, drug driving