Brenton Robert Martin charged with drug driving after Rabbits Eat Lettuce Festival
A Queensland magistrate has been left stunned after a man made a court appearance as colourful as the music festival he was heading home from the weekend of his arrest.
Police & Courts
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A Sydney man’s answers to questions about his post-festival drug driving charge have left a Queensland magistrate stunned.
Brenton Robert Martin appeared in Warwick Magistrates Court on May 16, facing one charge of driving with drugs present in system.
Police prosecutor Sergeant Steve de Lissa told the court Mr Martin was busted at Elbow Valley with cannabis, cocaine and MDMA in his system, in the aftermath of the Rabbits Eat Lettuce music festival in the state’s south.
A total of 78 alleged drug drivers were detected following the event on the Easter long weekend.
Mr Martin did not enter a plea to the charge.
However, he told the court he did not know how the drugs allegedly entered his system, offering a confronting possibility.
“I’ve actually got no idea what this is, everyone else got told what type of drug it was”, Mr Martin said.
“I had a very interesting night the night before, I had a lot of bodily fluids entering my system from other people and I’m not sure where it came from.
“I know I didn’t take anything, I did ingest other people’s fluids that morning before, which is where I’m guessing it came from.”
A visibly shocked Magistrate Janice Crawford, who warned Mr Martin he’d be disqualified from driving if he were to plead guilty, said “all right, did you want to get some legal advice?”.
Mr Martin said he needed his licence for work purposes.
Ms Crawford told the man on his next court date he could appear by telephone and attempted to arrange a day for the next mention.
“If I call you and you don’t answer the phone, I’ll issue a warrant for your arrest, which will be another problem for you to deal with,” she said.
Mr Martin told the court he would be going overseas in the next fortnight.
“I will be in Malta at that time, it’s a one-way ticket, an open-ended trip,” he said.
Mr Martin is expected to appear in court on June 10, via phone, from Malta.
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