A man who was found with the drug ice in his car while visiting a friend in a central Victorian prison has copped a conviction and a fine.
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Jayden James Ives pleaded guilty in the Bendigo Magistrates’ Court this month to two charges arising from the incident on November 11 last year.
The court heard Ives drove to Castlemaine that day to visit his friend, who was an inmate in Loddon Prison.
About 1pm, he parked his car in the prison complex’s car park and entered the reception area, where visitors were queued up to enter.
A drug detection dog indicated Ives might have had drugs, so he was taken into a separate room and searched, but nothing was found.
His vehicle was then searched, and a small amount of methamphetamine weighing 1.6 grams and a glass pipe were found in the boot.
Ives was arrested and interviewed. He told police he attended a music festival the day before and had had drugs in the pocket of his trousers.
He admitted the ice found in his vehicle belonged to him.
Ives’ defence lawyer Kate Freshwater said her client had inadvertently taken the drug into the prison grounds, and had no intention on taking it into the prison itself.
Ms Freshwater said Ives saw a doctor last year about his drug use.
She asked that magistrate John Murphy deal with the matter with a significant fine.
The court heard Ives had two prior drugs convictions.
Mr Murphy said Ives was “damn lucky” he did not have the drug on him when he walked into the prison building, or the inference that he was taking it in there for his friend would have been drawn.
He convicted Ives and fined him $500.
Mr Murphy also granted a police application to source a DNA sample from Ives.
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