Criminal Defence Lawyers for Central Local Court

Our client is a 28 year old residing in Victoria.

He was charged with one count of importing a commercial quantity of a border controlled drug precursor under section 307.11 of the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth).

The offence carries a maximum penalty of 25 years’ imprisonment.

A joint strike force was set up by the New South Wales Police State Crime Command Drug & Firearms Squad and the Australian Border Force (ABF) to investigate the importation and supply of prohibited drugs.

An international consignment sent from China to Sydney was intercepted by the ABF and examined.

The consignment consisted of 5 pallets holding 50 cardboard boxes which, in turn, contained a total of 60,000 filled with 300 kilograms of ephedrine – a substance used to make amphetamines.

The ephedrine was removed and the consignment reconstructed to resemble its original appearance. It was released and monitored by the SCC Drug & Firearm Squad and ABF.

The consignment was then delivered to the addressed warehouse, which contained storage units.

Our client was alleged to have attended the warehouse where the consignment was delivered and captured on the CCTV inspecting the highlighters by opening a number of boxes, shaking them, inspecting them and taking photographs. He was also alleged to have been filmed taking one of the highlighters from the storage unit.

He was alleged to have travelled from Victoria to Sydney months beforehand and rented the storage unit.

He was ultimately arrested and participated in an electronically recorded interview, where he was alleged to have made certain admissions.

His family contacted our office on the day of his arrest, and we promptly attended to him in custody to take instructions.

The next day in court, the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecution vehemently opposed our bail application on a number of grounds, including the seriousness of the charge, the strength of the prosecution case, the allegation our client was a flight risks, that he played a significant role in a sophisticated enterprise and so on, which they submitted made our client an unacceptable bail risk.

We carefully scrutinised the material we were able to gather the previous day from police and on the morning of court, and made extensive submissions to the effect that the prosecution case was nowhere near as strong as made to appear in the court attendance notice.

We obtained various materials from our client’s family members in relation to his living arrangement and a small security.

In the result, the magistrate in Central Local Court granted bail on strict conditions; however, His Honour did agree with our submission that our client be permitted to travel to his home in Victoria and reside there.

We intend to ultimately make written submissions for the withdrawal of the proceedings.

Our 23 year old client has been granted conditional bail in Central Local Court after being charged with 'supplying a large commercial quantity of prohibited drug' and 'knowingly participate in criminal group'.

Police conducted a controlled operation into the alleged production and supply of methylamphetamine originating out of a clandestine laboratory in Ryde, NSW.

Police used surveillance devices and physical monitoring to track the movement of substances from that location to other parts of Sydney.

Our client was arrested together with four other young men who were allegedly in possession of 2.4 kilograms of methylamphetamine.

It is additionally alleged that our client is captured on surveillance footage handling the packages within which the drugs were found.

All five defendants then came before the Presiding Magistrate in Central Local Court.

They all faced an uphill battle when it came to bail because 'large commercial drug supply' is one of the offences captured by the new "show cause" provisions of the Bail Act - which means that it is very difficult to obtain bail in such cases.

However, our senior lawyers made extensive verbal submissions which ultimately convinced the Magistrate to grant bail to our client.

All of the other four other defendants were refused bail.

It is just another example of how superior legal representation can make all the difference when it comes to your liberty.

Our client is a 26 year old Columbian national who, before his arrest, was in Australia on a student visa.

He is charged with importing 63 kilograms of methamphetamine from Mexico and Columbia into Australia, in contravention of section 307.1 of the Criminal Code Act.

The offence carries a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

The shipment was detected through telephone intercepts and physical surveillance, and the drugs were intercepted by the AFP in Sydney and replaced with an innocuous substance that was found in the boot of a car in Burwood.

It is alleged that our client was involved in the importation and that the case against him is strong.

The Bail Act 2013 requires the court to consider a range of factors when deciding to release a person from custody.

Those factors include: the seriousness of the charge, the strength of the prosecution case, the person’s links to the community, the risk of not turning up to court, the risk of reoffending, the time they would spend in prison if not granted bail and the need to be free to prepare for their case.

Our client was in a difficult position due to the seriousness and alleged strength of the case, his minimal links to the community and the consequent risk of failing to attend court.

However, our defence team prepared detailed written submissions to the court focusing upon (1) prosecution delays in serving evidence, (2) the fact that he would be spending a significant amount of time behind bars awaiting trial, and (3) our need to have him free to assist in the preparation of his defence.

The prosecution strongly opposed bail, and prepared it’s own written submissions.

However, the Magistrate in Central Local Court ultimately acceded to our request and granted conditional bail to our client.

The next step will be for our experienced team to use our vast specialised experience in commercial drug cases to secure him the optimal outcome.

The Magistrate in Central Local Court granted bail to our client who allegedly engaged in three separate offences of aggravated break, enter and commit serious indictable offence and intentionally or recklessly destroy / damage property in the Lindfield area in May and June 2013.

Bail was granted despite the Magistrate finding that the police case is very strong because the offences are captured by CCTV footage which depicts our client and the distinctive clothes allegedly worn by our client during the offences were found at his home.

It was a difficult bail application because our client has previous convictions for drug supply and drug possession, and there was a 'presumption against bail' for the current offences.

Sydney Criminal Lawyers® obtained bail in Central Local Court for a 26 year old man charged with having 4.75kg of imported Cocaine, which is an offence carrying a maximum penalty of life imprisonment and a 'presumption against bail'.