Alexander Heilpern charged for driving with medicinal cannabis in his system

After hearing how the devastating Northern Rivers floods had affected a man, a magistrate has shown him mercy on a charge of driving with medicinal cannabis in his system.

A NSW man charged with drug driving after using medicinal cannabis has received mercy from a magistrate after the Northern Rivers floods turned his life upside down.

Alexander Heilpern, 36, was charged with driving with a drug in his system after being caught by the Highway Patrol with medicinal cannabis in his blood following a random breath test on June 19 on Rayah Road, Ocean Shores.

At Mullumbimby Local Court on September 7, he pleaded guilty and magistrate Karen Stafford exercised leniency given the “catastrophic events” in the accused’s private life and the fact he had already served a one-month immediate suspension.

The court heard the devastating floods had destroyed Mr Heilpern’s home and left him and his wife injured, enhancing his need for a licence.

“Your home was destroyed in the floods and in the wreckage your partner’s legs were crushed, your foot was also injured,” Ms Stafford said.

Alexander Heilpern had a charge of driving with medicinal cannabis in his system dismissed at Mullumbimby courthouse.

“You spent a month off the road suspended for this offence.

“Given these circumstances, you‘re not convicted and I dismiss the charges.”

Ms Stafford was also satisfied with the insight that Mr Heilpern had developed from completing the traffic offenders program, after asking him what he had learned from the course.

“The things that stood out for me at the traffic offenders program were the real life stories. There was a man who lost both his brothers in a car accident and (it) shook me up a bit,” Mr Heilpern said.

Ms Stafford said that Mr Heilpern’s crime was “objectively at the lower end of the scale” and that while he was using medicinal cannabis, ”there was nothing about (his) manner of driving that concerned police.”

The court heard Mr Heilpern’s foot was broken and his girlfriend’s legs were crushed after their home was destroyed in the northern NSW floods earlier this year, with both facing imminent surgery.