Name and number on drug stash

A YOUNG Toowoomba man found with “ecstasy” at a musical festival had his name and phone number on the outside of the drug bag, the city’s Magistrates Court has been told.

Dominic Jeffrey Van Bakel had been attending a music festival on the Sunshine Coast when a police dog indicated to its handlers that he may have an illicit substance on him, the court heard.

The 21-year-old was found to have a small plastic clip seal bag containing a small amount of MDMA (ecstasy) secreted between two pairs of underpants he was wearing at the time, police prosecutor Julia Wheaton told the court.

On the outside of the bag was written “Dom’s MDMA, if lost phone (his mobile number)”, Senior Constable Wheaton said.

Van Bakel pleaded guilty to possessing a dangerous drug.

His solicitor Chris Lumme (Anderson Fredericks Turner Lawyers and Advocates) told the court his client had no previous convictions at all and entered an early plea of guilty to the charge.

His client had already suffered some shame after media coverage of the incident went viral to the point it had been reported in the United Kingdom, he said.

Mr Lumme submitted that this being his client’s first appearance before a court that no conviction be recorded and that he be placed on a bond.

Magistrate Damian Carroll agreed with Mr Lumme, acknowledging Van Bakel’s youth and that he had simply made a “serious error of judgment”.

Mr Carroll ordered that the conviction not be recorded and placed the 21-year-old on a six month good behaviour bond with a recognisance of $600 which he would not have to pay provided he committed no further offences during that time.