Two men were sentenced for possession of prescription medication in Orange Local Court on Monday.
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Leon Mahia Horne, 54, of Kokoda Street, was given two 12-month good behaviour bonds, one was for possession of 9.9 grams of cannabis and the other was for possession of apo-pregabalin, which is used for treating nerve pain.
The drugs were found after police searched him after stopping him while he was riding a bike on Goorawin Road on June 27 because his helmet wasn’t fitted properly.
He said he was given the medication while in rehabilitation but it was revealed he hadn’t recently been at the centre and it does not dispense that drug.
Horne was also given a 12-month good behaviour bond for stealing a bike and a six-month good behaviour bond for possessing cannabis, which he said cost $20.
Police saw him riding a $150 Bravetti 21-speed bike on a footpath in Woodward Street without a light or helmet at 6.45pm on May 31.
He represented himself in court and said he found the bike in a park.
“There were three or four bikes in the park that day and I just grabbed the best one,” Horne said.
In another matter Shane Price, 21, of Kenna Street, was sentenced for his third driving while disqualified offence and possessing four strips of buprenorphine.
Price was caught driving on December 30 when police stopped him In Summer Street and discovered his provisional driver’s licence was disqualified from August 2016 to September 2020.
On Monday, magistrate David Day gave him a 12-month good behaviour bond, fined him $1100 and disqualified him from driving for 12 months.
“If he keeps on doing it, he will drive himself to jail,” Mr Day said.
“You are getting into dangerous territory.”
Mr Day also fined Price $220 for possession of the four 8 miligram burprenorphine strips.
The restricted medication, which is taken as a replacement for heroin or morphine dependence, was found in Price’s bag after the car he was travelling in as a passenger on May 10 was stopped and searched by police.
“Was it a case of getting hold of anything he can get his hands on?” Mr Day asked in reference to the drug choice.
“For whatever reason he’s got a liking for whatever he can lay his hands on.”
Price’s solicitor Gerry Stapleton said his client had previously attended rehabilitation programs.