Trevor John Lawson pleads guilty in Caloundra Magistrates Court to knife possession

A magistrate has questioned the kind of role model a single dad was being for his son after an unusual sound during a routine traffic stop landed him in strife with the law.

A magistrate has told a single father that knife possession was a “particularly serious” offence and questioned what kind of role model he was for his child.

Trevor John Lawson, 35, of Currimundi pleaded guilty in the Caloundra Magistrates Court on August 31, 2022, to one charge of driving with cannabis and methamphetamine in his system and one charge of unlawful possession of a flick-knife.

Police prosecutor Stu Lydford said that at 1.30am on June 2, 2022, police pulled over a car on Kawana Way in Birtinya that the defendant was driving.

He said a roadside analysis was positive for drugs and a second sample showed methamphetamine and cannabis were found in the defendant’s system.

Sergeant Lydford said that about 4pm on August 4, 2022, the defendant was driving in Currimundi and when he was pulled over, police officers heard something drop on the car floor.

Trevor John Lawson outside the Caloundra Courthouse on August 31, 2022.

“Another officer on the passenger side observed an object that appeared to be a knife in the passenger footwell,” he said.

The police prosecutor said the defendant was searched and then the officers picked up the flick-knife from the footwell.

Lawson, who represented himself, said driving while intoxicated was a “silly mistake” and he needed his licence to get his son to school.

The plasterer said he had not worked for 18 months, had split up with his partner and was looking after his son full-time.

Magistrate Raelene Ellis said she took into account the defendant’s early guilty plea.

“Knives are a particularly serious offence because carrying around of knives results in people’s deaths even where it’s not necessarily intended or used for that purpose,” she said.

“It’s something that I think needs to be discouraged.”

She said in relation to the drug-driving, the defendant had a prior offence in 2019 when he was also found with methamphetamine and cannabis in his system.

“I’m not sure what sort of role model you’re playing for your son right now,” she said.

The magistrate convicted and fined Lawson $750 and disqualified him from driving for four months.

She also gave a destruction order for the knife.

A conviction was recorded.