Lauryn Eagle convicted of drug driving

THE boxer has been fined and banned from driving for six months after she was found driving with drugs in her system, but her lawyer has pledged to fight the conviction.

PROFESSIONAL boxer Lauryn Eagle has been convicted of drug driving, fined $600 and banned from driving for six months.

In sentencing the 29-year-old in Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday, magistrate Hugh Donnelly rejected an application to record no conviction, noting her poor traffic record.

He referred to evidence that the methamphetamine detected in her system at a random test in July 2017 was an ingredient of Desoxyn, a drug prescribed to her in the United States to treat ADHD.

Lauryn Eagle leaves the Downing Centre Local Court in Sydney. Picture: Ben Rushton/AAP

Eagle pleaded guilty to driving with an illicit drug in her system, after the magistrate rejected an application to have the charge disposed of under the Mental Health Act.

Outside court, her lawyer Adam Houda told reporters he had lodged an appeal, saying: “We take issue with any type of penalty for someone who was just taking their prescribed medication.”

My client @LaurynEagle was handed a fine today. We have since lodged an appeal as we take issue with my client receiving ANY kind of punishment for taking medication as prescribed by her doctor.

— Adam Houda (@LawyerAdamHouda) January 30, 2018

According to the police facts, Eagle saw her GP about the side-effects she was having from a drug prescribed to her for ADHD and told him her research identified another drug, Desoxyn.

The GP noted the drug was not prescribed in Australia but gave her a prescription she could present to a doctor in the US on her April 2017 attendance at a boxing training camp.

The facts referred to an internet search of Desoxyn, which included a warning about possible impairment when operating machinery or driving.

Eagle’s lawyer Adam Houda said he had already lodged an appeal. Picture: Ben Rushton/AAP

Referring to NSW law, the magistrate noted there was a defence to consuming morphine if it was prescribed for medicinal purposes but this did not extend to methamphetamines.

After her guilty plea was entered, Mr Houda asked the magistrate not to record a conviction saying Eagle was not aware that Desoxyn contained the offending ingredient.

“No way in hell she would have driven if she knew that,” he said.