FAKE COKE DOPE
FAUX BLOW: Court slams money-hungry fish & chip worker selling bags of baking soda at nightclub
FISH and chip shop worker Mitchell Thompson tried to cash in on a Geelong cocaine shortage by selling bags of flour and baking soda to “gullible” revellers at Home House nightclub. Mitchell , 18, sold one small bag for $100 at the Moorabool St venue and planned to sell a further seven but the nightclub’s security manager intervened.
A FAUX-drug trafficker tried to cash in on reports of a Geelong cocaine shortage by selling fake bags of the drug to “gullible” buyers at Home House nightclub.
Mitchell Thompson, 18, sold one small plastic bag of flour mixed with baking soda for $100 on February 5 at the nightclub and planned to sell a further seven, the Geelong Magistrates’ Court was told yesterday.
But the nightclub’s secur- ity manager intervened before he got the chance.
The court heard he used the internet to research the taste and feel of cocaine before making his mix, and targeting potential buyers on social media and with text messages. “I messaged a few people … and tried to go for the more gullible ones,” he told police.
The court heard the Whittington man committed the offence just weeks after his 18th birthday to dig himself out of financial difficulty, and after reading reports that cocaine was in scarce supply.
“He didn’t feel he was earning enough money working one day a week at a fish and chip shop,” prosecutor Senior Constable Kerrie Moroney said.
Magistrate Ross Maxted said it was a “cunning” crime, but was only convinced the trafficking charge was appropriate for the offence after researching legal precedents.
He estimated the market value of cocaine to be about $400 for 1g, but noted Thompson was offering to sell his fake product at a quarter of that price.
“The problem is it wasn’t worth anything because it wasn’t cocaine,” the magistrate said.
“He knows how desperate people are for cocaine; they’ll do anything.”
When Thompson’s lawyer pointed out her client was not a drug user, Mr Maxted commented “he’s just commercially extracting money out of people who are a bit hooked”.
The court was told Thompson had started an engineering apprenticeship in recent months, and was an intelligent man with no prior convictions, addictions or mental health issues.
Mr Maxted decided not to fine the man, instead ordering he make a charitable donation as part of nonconviction bond.
“You’ve hit the depths of cheating and I want you to reflect on that,” he said.
“You were to make $800 out of the deal (instead) you can pay $800 to beyondblue.”