Police want harsher term after 400-pill teen gets community service
NSW Police wants the Director of Public Prosecutions to appeal what they believe to be a lenient sentence handed to a Sydney teenager caught with almost 400 ecstasy pills at a deadly dance festival.
NSW Police wants the Director of Public Prosecutions to appeal what they believe to be a lenient sentence handed to a Sydney teenager caught with almost 400 ecstasy pills at a deadly dance festival.
There have been five drug-linked fatalities at festivals in NSW in just four months, sparking calls for harsher sentencing for those peddling and pushing the narcotics.
But Tina Thanh Truc Phan was given only an 80-hour community service order by Magistrate Louise McManus after the 18-year-old smuggled 394 pills into Knockout Games of Destiny in Sydney Olympic Park last month.
Callum Brosnan, 19, died after he collapsed at the nearby train station in the early hours of the day after the festival. He was taken to Concord Hospital, where he died from a suspected drug overdose.
In total 15 people were taken to hospital after Knockout Games of Destiny, three were placed in an induced coma and 130 sought medical treatment at the event.
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During her hearing last Friday, Phan’s lawyer conceded that the teen had smuggled the drugs into the festival for a friend in return for money.
There is no suggestion Phan had anything to do with Mr Brosnan’s death or anyone else who was hospitalised.
However earlier this week police wrote to Director of Public Prosecutions Lloyd Babb requesting the sentence be reviewed.
It is understood senior police were concerned the sentence was too light, considering the large amount of drugs with which Phan was caught.
In court last week Phan’s lawyer Cheryl Khurana said her client planned to study this year to become a nurse and was “extremely remorseful and shamed” about what she had done.
She also claimed Phan had smuggled the drugs into festival to supplement her family’s income, an excuse rejected by the magistrate.
The appeal by police comes after the state government announced new harsh penalties for those convicted of drug dealing at festivals. The move was sparked by the deaths of Joseph Pham and Diana Nguyen at Sydney’s Defqon. 1 festival last September.
Those caught suppling drugs that can then be proven to be linked to a fatality can now be hit with jail terms of up to 25 years.
And from next Saturday, police will trial issuing on-the-spot fines of $450 for people caught in possession of illegal drugs at festivals.
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