Brianna Manoel: Teacher’s coke possession excuse slammed by magistrate

An eastern suburbs high school teacher who nervously tried to evade a sniffer dog was caught with cocaine at one of Bondi’s iconic drink venues. Find out the excuse she tried to offer up.

Brianna Manoel appeared in Waverley Local Court on Tuesday.

A magistrate has slammed a Sydney high school teacher’s weak excuse for holding a bag of coke after she claimed it belonged to a friend because they didn’t have a handbag.

Brianna Manoel, 26, pleaded guilty to drug possession at Waverley Local Court on Tuesday after her behaviour raised the suspicions of Hotel Ravesis near Bondi Beach.

Agreed facts tendered to court state Manoel is “employed by Rose Bay Secondary”.

However, a Department of Education spokeswoman said there was no record of Manoel being a teacher at the school.

According to agreed facts, about 10.45pm on February 4, Manoel immediately noticed a drug dog enter the hotel, prompting her to grab one of her friends who told her to go to the bathroom and “don’t stress”.

Police say Manoel continued to watch the drug dog and appeared nervous, waiting for it to move so “she would not have to pass it” before walking towards the bathroom.

This was all seen by plain clothes police officers.

Hotel Ravesis in Bondi Beach. Picture: Christian Gilles

Manoel was stopped by police and taken to a foyer area to be searched, where she informed officers “her friend had placed [the cocaine in] her handbag as the friend did not have a handbag herself”.

A bag of cocaine, weighing 1.18 grams was found, and she was placed under arrest and cautioned.

She told police she did not know what the drug was, again claiming her friend put the cocaine in there.

While reading the facts, Magistrate Jacqueline Milledge was immediately shocked, saying to police prosecutor sergeant Hollywood “oh my goodness me, she works with children”.

Upon reading Manoel’s excuse, the magistrate jokingly said “oh yes, I believe that”.

“I don’t buy that one … geez I hope she hasn’t persisted with that story in her letter … oh she does,” Magistrate Milledge said.

“I’ve read all of that material, I’m pleased to see the father didn’t continue with [the] excuse, nor did the other referees, maybe she’s decided that’s not going to work for her.”

Waverley Courthouse.

The court heard from Manoel’s lawyer who despite saying these matters are heard “everyday”, described the offence as falling towards the lower end of objective seriousness.

The lawyer revealed her client comes before the court as “someone who did have good character” before the offence, saying she has shown “genuine” remorse.

While saying it was unfortunate Manoel “is in the line of work” of teaching kids, the lawyer said her client “will strive to better the younger generation”. She ultimately asked for a non-conviction.

Magistrate Milledge said police have this type of offending “downpat”, explaining “while you were watching them, there were other police watching you”.

“To your credit when you got caught, you were compliant [but] I don’t buy that you were minding it for someone … it was there to be enjoyed [by you],” she said.

“In life we all take risks, we jump out of planes … [you’re] someone who chose a [career] path which relies on integrity … you’ve said I’ll gamble all of that, because I want to stick something up my nose.”

Manoel was placed on a 12-month conditional release order without conviction.