Charlie Bindon on drug charges from Splendour in the Grass event

The sweet treat contained an hallucinogen, but that wasn’t the end of the drama for a young Grafton man as he was stopped on his way to a music festival.

A North Coast man has copped a stern warning from a magistrate after being stopped by a drug dog at Splendour in the Grass.

Charlie Bindon faced Maclean Local Court on Thursday September 29, charged with three counts of possessing an illegal drug.

When police drug dogs indicated a positive response to Bindon on July 23, he was stopped and asked whether he had illicit substances in his possession.

The 22-year-old admitted possession of a chocolate with mushrooms in it, which court documents reveal contained 14.3g of the hallucinogen psilocybin, commonly known as ‘magic mushrooms’.

On a search of Bindon, police found a joint containing 0.59g of cannabis, and a tab suspected of being LSD.

Charlie Bindon outside Maclean Local Court on September 29, 2022.

The Grafton man was issued with a field court attendance notice to appear in Byron Bay Local Court on September 19, and after adjournment, pleaded guilty for sentence in Maclean Local Court.

Magistrate Kathy Crittenden was stern in sentencing, noting “whatever your attitude to recreational drugs, the reality is that these drugs are illegal”.

The fact that Bindon is currently undertaking his studies at the University of Queensland was in his favour, with Ms Crittenden remarking his “very positive path”.

“It would be a great shame if you threw it all away for the sake of a good time at Splendour,” she said.

Bindon was not convicted under section 10 of the Sentencing Procedure Act, and sentenced to a conditional release order.