Not all online products are legal

JUST because products could be bought online, that didn’t mean they were legal, a Toowoomba magistrate has warned.

“You can buy just about anything online,” Magistrate Kay Ryan told Toowoomba man Dylan Hanlon.

The 26-year-old had been holding a large timber handle and appearing “fidgety” when a police patrol came upon him on the footpath near the corner of Holberton and Taylor Sts about 4pm, December 4, police prosecutor Catherine

Nielsen told Toowoomba Magistrates Court.

Hanlon was found to have a small amount of “green leafy material” and a torch that was a taser, Senior Constable Nielsen said.

He told police that the green leafy material was cannabis, which weighed about 1g, and that he had bought the taser online, she said.

Hanlon pleaded guilty to possessing a dangerous drug and unlawfully possessing a Category R weapon (taser).

At the time of the incident he had just completed a probation order, the court heard.

Duty solicitor Nathan Bouchier, of Bouchier Khan Lawyers, told the court his client had been using the taser as a torch and he was instructed that the cannabis was mainly plant stem.

His client was single and unemployed and he instructed that he suffered bipolar and some other medical issues and was applying for a disability pension, he said.

Magistrate Kay Ryan noted Hanlon had only a “short history” but warned him against having such items.

“Just because you can buy a taser online doesn’t make it legal,” she told him.

Ms Ryan also warned Hanlon that the use of drugs such as cannabis could make matters worse for someone suffering mental health issues.

Ms Ryan convicted and fined Hanlon $500.

JUST BECAUSE YOU CAN BUY A TASER ONLINE DOESN’T MAKE IT LEGAL.

MAGISTRATE KAY RYAN