‘Endless list of people like you’: Nurse scolded by in court for MDMA at festival
A hospital nurse has escaped conviction after being found in possession of 11 MDMA capsules at a music festival in Parramatta.
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A hospital nurse has escaped conviction after being found in possession of 11 MDMA capsules at a music festival in Parramatta, during a sentencing where the judge scolded the health worker for not knowing better about the dangers of taking prohibited drugs.
The sentence was given on the eve of an inquest into the deaths of five young people from suspected drug overdoses at music festivals in NSW during the past year, which begins next week.
Melissa Bollinger, 23, from Orange, was sentenced at Parramatta Local Court on Thursday for two counts of possess a prohibited drug after secreting the MDMA capsules and walking into a music festival on February 24 at Parramatta Park.
Magistrate Tim Keady blasted Ms Bollinger who told police she did not know exactly what was inside the drugs.
“You will take this stuff and swallow it without a thought and you work in public health.
“I’m sure in other ways you are careful about what you eat but you do not care about this stuff — it does not make sense.”
Tests showed that three of the capsules contained lidocaine and phenacetin as well as MDMA.
Mr Keady explained that phenacetin was used in medication in the mid 1900s but was banned after it was found to cause serious side effects.
“Many people in the 50s and 60s died from kidney and other organ failure brought on by phenacetin,” he said.
It was Ms Bollinger’s first offence for possess a prohibited drug which was taken into consideration during her sentence.
Mr Keady decided not to convict her and sentenced her to a conditional release order for 18 months.
He remarked it had become common to see people like Ms Bollinger — who had a relatively clean criminal history facing drug offences at music festivals — before the courts.
“There seems to be an endless list of people like you coming into the courts for possessing prohibited drugs at public events like this.”
The statement of agreed facts stated that during the afternoon of February 23, Ms Bollinger and her boyfriend Luke Hazzard entered the Ultra 2019 music festival at Parramatta Park.
A sniffer dog detected drugs on Ms Bollinger near the entrance and she was taken to a search area.
She produced a condom, which she had secreted inside her, containing 11 MDMA capsules and tablets.
She was arrested and taken to Parramatta police station.
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