Former Nomads bikie James Quinnell consumes cocaine from underpants at Maitland Police Station
Officers were left scrambling when a former Nomads bikie made a brazen move at Maitland Police Station, pulling drugs from his undies and taking them right there in his cell.
Newcastle
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A former senior bikie made a bold move when, despite having just been arrested and taken into custody, he pulled cocaine out of his underpants and consumed it right there in a police cell.
Former Newcastle Nomads sergeant-at-arms James Quinnell had been taken to the Maitland Police Station on March 21 following an incident at his Rutherford home.
Police facts state the 34-year-old was in a intoxicated and “heightened” state when he was forced to snatch a knife off a paranoid friend who had stayed the night, following a bender on alcohol and drugs.
Police were called and arrived quickly at the Barbara Ct address before they took Quinnell back to the station.
But a brazen move to retrieve something from his underwear quickly caught the eye of officers as they watched on via CCTV.
Court documents said Quinnell appeared to quickly consume a white powder as police stormed in to stop him.
Officers were forced to administer “knee strikes” to the 34-year-old in an effort to stop him taking any more of the powder before a small sap bag fell out onto the ground.
The white substance was then “strewn” across the floor, according to police facts.
Quinnell finally stopped resisting as officers conducted a search.
Police scraped the remaining white powder from the cell ground, with a test later confirming it was cocaine, according to police facts.
Quinnell pleaded guilty to the possession of one gram of cocaine and resisting police.
At Newcastle Local Court on Wednesday, he was fined $600 and was put on a 15-month community correction order.
A common assault charge was withdrawn, as was an application for an apprehended violence order for his then-pregnant partner.
For the period of the order, Quinnell will also have to abstain from drugs as a condition.
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