Lucas Singh pleads guilty to cocaine possession outside Northies

A Sydney magistrate has told a young man caught with $250 of cocaine on a night out at the pub that “there is no such thing as a recreational drug” as several young people died from “recreational” drug use at festivals in the past 12 months.

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A Sydney magistrate has slammed a man’s casual attitude to drug use after a slew of young people died of overdoses at festivals and music events.

Sutherland Local Court Magistrate Jayeann Carney told Lucas Singh, 25, he was facing up to two years’ jail after he was caught with 0.7g of cocaine at Northies in Cronulla on June 22.

“There seems to be some belief in the Sydney community through people of all ages that using drugs as party drugs, particularly cocaine and MDMA, is okay - it’s not okay,” Ms Carney told the court.

“We’ve seen the recent deaths at music festivals from drug use by young folks in the community.”

Lucas Singh, 25, pleaded guilty at Sutherland Local Court to possessing $250 of cocaine at Northies Hotel in June 2019.

Singh pleaded guilty to prohibited drug possession after police caught him with a bag worth $250 in the queue at Northies.

“Police attached to the Sutherland Shire Police Area Command were investigating the supply of cocaine,” Ms Carney told the court.

“Police had a reasonable cause to suspect (Singh) had purchased an amount of cocaine, they saw him standing in the line at Northies, they searched him and found a small resealable plastic bag containing white powder.”

Ms Carney sentenced Singh to a two-year conditional release order without conviction.

Singh, who works as a service adviser at Mazda, said he had had a “big day at work” before he bought the cocaine for $250.

“It was an impulsive decision,” Singh told the court.

“It was a stupid decision and I regret it.”

Police were investigating cocaine supply when they stopped Singh on June 22.

Ms Carney stressed the charge was not a trivial matter.

“Perhaps you’re nervous but you portray a casual attitude to these circumstances,” Ms Carney told Singh.

“This is a prohibited drug with a maximum penalty of two years’ jail - there are people serving jail time for possessing small quantities of drugs today.

“You say it was stupid - it’s much more serious than that.”

Ms Carney also highlighted drug dealers did not care about the consequences for users as long as they made their money.

“The drug suppliers are there to make money, and they want to make money from people who think drug use is okay,” she said.

“There is no such thing as a recreational drug.”

The day before on June 21 police also charged Rachael Cole, 26, with prohibited drug possession after they saw her buy it from an unknown man before attempting to enter Northies.

Cole was convicted and fined $500 by Magistrate Peter Bugden at Sutherland Local Court on July 23.

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