Possession of Class C Drugs - Client Avoids Court

Case study summary

Our client admitted being in possession of nitrous oxide. She was not aware that the law had recently changed and that it was now classified as a Class C drug. Nevertheless, this was not a defence to the allegation. We persuaded the police to resolve the matter out of court.

Case study

Our client was found to be in possession of nitrous oxide following a road traffic collision. Two cannisters were located in the boot of her car. Following this, our client's house was also searched and a further cannister was found. She was arrested and asked us to attend the police station to represent her.

One of our expert defence lawyers attended the police station and obtained as much information as they could from the police, including our client's criminal record. This confirmed that our client had no previous convictions.

Our client admitted the allegation. At the time of her arrest, the law had recently changed making it an offence to possess nitrous oxide and that it was now classified as a Class C drug. Our client was not aware of this but, unfortunately, this was not a defence to the allegation. She was a mother and asked us to do whatever we could to prevent the matter from going to court.

We made strong submissions to the police to persuade them that the matter could be resolved out of court and by way of community resolution. The police accepted this, the matter was resolved that day and our client maintained her clean criminal record. She was very relieved.