Murder accused Jamal Eljaidi found asleep at the wheel with GHB, court hears
Murder accused Jamal Eljaidi has been found guilty of supplying the street drug GHB, after police found the illicit substance in his possession while he was unconscious at the wheel.
Inner West
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Murder accused Jamal Eljaidi has been found guilty of supplying the street drug GHB and drug driving at Burwood Local Court today.
During his hearing this afternoon, the court heard Eljaidi, 32, was found unconscious in his car with the engine on before a search by detectives located 39.4 grams of the drug inside a Dettol bottle.
Reports tendered to court reveal a toxicology test found the Belmore man had a cocktail of GHB and cocaine in his system.
Eljaidi is currently on bail for a murder charge, the court heard.
While he conceded to possessing the drug, his lawyer submitted to Magistrate Louise McManus that illicit substance was for personal use, given the test result.
Police claimed the case was a “deemed supply” as a result of the quantity of the drug being a trafficable amount.
Magistrate McManus found the offence proven beyond a reasonable doubt, though had to stop mid-judgment to clarify whether the name of the drug found in Eljaidi’s system was the same drug police had found in the bottle.
The confusion had arose after the substance was given a different name on reports and a charge sheet tendered to the court.
Eljaidi sat quietly in the dock as the brief hearing concluded this afternoon.
“(When you’re on drugs) you’re a danger to yourself and a danger to everyone else,” Magistrate McManus said.
“You’re very lucky people took care of you that day and took you to hospital.
“We may have been reading about you in the paper as a statistic otherwise.”
Eljaidi was given a 14 month community corrections order for the supply charge and fined $800 and disqualified from driving for eight months.
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