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Waverley Drug Possession Case Study: Cocaine After a “Dial-a-Dealer” Deal, $450 Fine, No Action on Earlier Bonds (NSW)

Name: Waverley Drug Possession Case Study: Cocaine After a “Dial-a-Dealer” Deal, $450 Fine, No Action on Earlier Bonds (NSW)
Uploaded: 2022-11-05T00:00:00+10:00
Duration: 7 min 5 s
Description: A young man bought 0.7 g of cocaine from a dial-a-dealer outside a Bondi venue while on two CROs for earlier drug driving offences. Waverley Local Court convicted him and fined him $450, but took no action on the breach, so he kept his licence and his job.

By Joshua Boorman, Principal, Boorman Lawyers · 5 November 2022 · 7:05 video

Jurisdiction: New South Wales
Court: Waverley Local Court
Charges: Possess a prohibited drug (cocaine, 0.7 g including packaging); breach of two earlier conditional release orders
Outcome: Guilty plea. Conviction recorded and $450 fine. No action taken on the breach of the earlier CROs.
Filmed: November 2022

Summary

A young man bought 0.7 g of cocaine from a dial-a-dealer outside a Bondi venue while on two CROs for earlier drug driving offences. Waverley Local Court convicted him and fined him $450, but took no action on the breach, so he kept his licence and his job.

Key takeaways

He was caught buying a small amount of cocaine from a dial-a-dealer, watched by undercover police outside a Bondi venue.
He was cooperative and took police to where he had thrown the drugs.
He was already on two 2-year CROs without conviction for drug driving offences.
The court recorded a conviction and imposed a $450 fine for the possession charge.
The magistrate took no action on the breach, so he kept his licence, with a stern warning.

A common offence in the eastern suburbs

In this Waverley drug possession case study, Boorman Lawyers appeared at Waverley Local Court on a minor drug possession charge involving cocaine. Josh Boorman says the offence, and the way the client was caught, are very typical of that area of Sydney.

How the client was caught

The client had been drinking for several hours with friends at a venue in Bondi and was somewhat intoxicated. He got a number from a friend and called a dial-a-dealer to have a small amount of cocaine delivered.

Our lawyer explains that undercover police watch outside venues in the area and see transactions take place every weekend, which is why so many of these matters are before the court. Police watched the client come out, look at his phone and look around, then followed him around the corner, where a car pulled up and an exchange took place. When he realised he was being followed, he threw the cocaine on the ground. Police caught up with him and arrested him.

Cooperation with police

The client took police back to where he had thrown the drugs. Josh says he was overly honest, probably to his own detriment, but cooperative, which showed immediate remorse. He was charged with possessing a prohibited drug. The amount, including packaging, was 0.7 of a gram, obviously for personal use, and he had paid about $200 to $250 for it.

The problem: two earlier orders

Our lawyer says that if this had been a first offence, he would have asked for no conviction. That option had passed. In December 2021, the client had been charged with two offences of driving with an illicit drug present. Earlier in 2022, before the same magistrate, he received two conditional release orders without conviction, each requiring good behaviour for 2 years.

Eight or nine months later he committed this offence, which breached those orders. The magistrate said he had been warned last time that further offending would mean no more leniency, and the court viewed it as though he was rubbing the court’s nose in the leniency it had already given him.

The outcome

As expected, the court recorded a conviction for the possession charge, with a $450 fine.

The bigger question was the breach. If the magistrate had acted on it, the client could have been convicted of the earlier drug driving offences and put off the road, which would probably have cost him his job. Josh pointed out that this was a different kind of offence and a different drug from the earlier matters, and that losing his licence would likely mean losing his job. The magistrate agreed to take no action on the breach, so he kept his licence.

He received a very stern warning that any further offending could put him at risk of custody. Our lawyer says he has good family support and needs to stay away from drugs and bad influences.

Managing expectations

Before court, Josh explained to the client that he should expect a conviction for the fresh offence, and the client was very understanding about that. What was less certain was how the magistrate would approach the breach of the earlier orders. Our lawyer describes the result as a conviction that was almost to be expected, but an outcome that was otherwise dealt with quite lightly, because no action was taken on the breach.

What this Waverley drug possession case study shows

Leniency from an earlier conditional release order can make a later outcome harder to achieve, because the court may see fresh offending as disregarding that chance. It can still matter how the new offence differs from the earlier ones and what the real consequences of further orders would be, such as losing a licence and a job. The magistrate described the reoffending as an attitudinal issue that the client needs to address. Every case is different, and outcomes depend on the facts.

Key general information (NSW)

General information only, not legal advice, as at October 2026. Every case turns on its own facts.

Drug possession charges: Possessing a prohibited drug is a criminal offence in NSW under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 (NSW). At the lower end of the scale, a court can find an offence proved without recording a conviction, either by dismissing the charge or by making a conditional release order without conviction.
What happens when a CRO is breached: A conditional release order (CRO) can be made with or without a conviction, for up to 2 years. According to the NSW Sentencing Council, every CRO requires the person not to commit any offence and to appear before the court if called on during the order.
The court process: Minor criminal charges such as drug possession in NSW are usually dealt with in the Local Court.

Frequently asked questions

What was the outcome at Waverley?

A conviction and a $450 fine for possessing cocaine. The court took no action on his breach of two earlier conditional release orders, so he kept his licence.

Why was there no chance of a no-conviction order?

He already had two conditional release orders without conviction for drug driving offences from earlier that year. Josh says that if it had been his first offence he would have asked for no conviction.

Why did the breach matter so much?

If the court had acted on the breach, he could have been convicted of the earlier drug driving offences and disqualified, which would probably have cost him his job.

What can a NSW court do when a CRO is breached?

The NSW Sentencing Council says the court can take no action, impose or vary conditions, or revoke the order and re-sentence the person. It depends on the circumstances.

What is a conditional release order?

A conditional release order (CRO) is a NSW sentencing option under the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999. It can be made with or without a conviction, and the NSW Sentencing Council notes it can last up to 2 years. Whether one is appropriate is a matter for the court in each case.

Read the video transcript

Guys, I'm back here at Waverley Local Court today. That's the courthouse just behind me in the background. And I've appeared on a an offence which is very typical to this area of Sydney. It's was a minor drug possession offence of cocaine. And the way that our client was caught was very typical of how many of um uh these offenders are getting caught these days. It was a uh um a dial-a-dealer uh cocaine transaction um where um basically my client had been out with friends uh at a venue in Bondi.

He'd been drinking for several hours. Um he was somewhat intoxicated. His judgement was clouded. And um he uh sourced a number from a friend to call a dial-a-dealer to get a small package of cocaine delivered. And uh he went outside the venue um because this is such a common uh form of transaction and offence uh in this area um undercover police are just hanging outside venues and watching people. And uh just following them along and watching transactions take place left, right, and centre every weekend. That's why there's so many of these types of offences before the court at the moment.

And that's exactly what happened here. They watched our client come out of the venue, look at his phone, look around the surroundings, look a bit jittery, uh followed him around the corner. Saw a car pull up. Um exchange take place. They followed my client. My client actually then uh disposed of the uh cocaine on the ground once he realised that police were following him. Uh but they saw this. They caught up with him. Um and uh my client was arrested. Uh he was arrested for possessing a small amount of cocaine.

And um took them back to where he'd thrown it on the ground. Uh probably much to his own detriment, he was overly honest with them, uh but still very cooperative, and that showed immediate remorse. Um so, uh he was charged with possess a prohibited drug, um uh called cocaine. It was a quite a small amount, obviously for personal use. Uh including the packaging, it was 0.7 of a gram, and he paid $200 $250 for that. Um Now, the problems for my client, in most situations, not all, but in many situations throughout New New South Wales, um obviously each case is dealt with on its own merits, but um if it was his first offence, I would have been here before the court asking for a no conviction.

But unfortunately, that boat that ship had passed a long time ago, since he uh had been charged with two uh drive with illicit drug um charges, um basically drug driving offences, two of them, um late last year, um in December 2021. The matter those matters were before the court early this year, before the same magistrate, and he was given two section 10 or two conditional release orders, which is no convictions, and he's put on a good behaviour bond for a period of 2 years. Now, some eight 9 months later, he's now been charged with a possess a prohibited drug, uh obviously not traffic related, but still drug related.

So, as the magistrate said, you you were warned on the last occasion, any further offending, and you would not be given the benefit of the no conviction going forward, and it was like he uh well, the court viewed it like uh he was rubbing the court's nose in the previous level of leniency that he was provided. The court had no other option really to [unclear] a record of conviction today. He was given a small fine of $450. We were able, however, to um uh convince or persuade magistrate not to take any action on the previous uh good behaviour bond uh and the breach of that bond.

So, uh part of the 2-year no conviction good behaviour bond that was delivered early this year for the two drug drives was that he was to remain of good behaviour, not re-offend in any sort of way for the next 2 years. And then he's obviously breached that good behaviour bond, so um due to the fact it was traffic related, it was a different drug involved um uh on the last occasion, um and due to the fact that any loss of licence would mean he would likely lose his job, the magistrate just fell on our side and agreed not to take any action on the breach of the previous offences.

If he had have taken action on that, he would have uh convicted our client for the past offences, put him off the road for a period of time, and um and that would have detrimental um outcomes in relation to our client keeping his job. So, in one respect he was convicted today of the drug possession, the fresh fresh offence. That was almost to be expected. Um but uh in the other sense it was dealt with quite lightly in the sense that no breach was take no action was taken on the breach.

So, he was able to keep his licence today. Um our client was very understanding. We explained to him that um he would need to expect a conviction for the fresh offence, but we were a little bit unsure as to how the magistrate would lean in relation to taking action on the breach. Um so, it end up good for our client today. He was given a very, very stern warning by the magistrate. Simply saying, "Listen, any further offending, you're you're due to basically risk of potentially going into custody.

Um, and um, and explained to him that it's just an attitudinal issue from our client's perspective to continue to go out and re-offend in the same way. He needs to stay away from drugs, stay away from bad influences and the bad substances in our community. He's got the good support of his family and hopefully this will be the last time he needs to contact us. So, thanks for tuning in here at Waverley, uh, Local Court [unclear: the captions add 'Western Australia'].

General information only, based on New South Wales law at the time of filming. Not legal advice — every case turns on its own facts. Past results don't guarantee future outcomes.