Charged man to do forty hours

David Peter Pulleine was charged with four counts of possessing drug paraphernalia in which there were traces of a prohibited drug and one count of possession of stolen property.

He represented himself and pleaded guilty to all charges during his first appearance at Northam Magistrates Court.

On June 28 Pulleine’s house was searched by Northam police where they found a home made smoking implement and cannabis, and three smoking implements with traces of methylamphetamine.

The search also uncovered keys belonging to WA police that were the result of a burglary earlier that month.

When the keys were found, Pulleine said he didn’t know where the keys had come from and that he must have picked them up from somewhere. 

In court on Monday, Magistrate Hawkins said Pulleine owed $20,000 in fines and had continually offended since 2015.

Magistrate Hawkins said there was no point fining Pulleine because it was “obviously not a deterrent”.

“I appreciate that you didn’t steal the keys but you still had them in your possession,” she said.

“The fact that they are property of the WA police makes it a considerable offence.

“You have no regard for the law.”

Magistrate Hawkins told Pulleine to get help from drug rehabilitation services in town for his continual drug use.

“You’re 37 years old and are very clearly using drugs and not doing anything about it,” she said.

“There are significant services in town and I am strongly encouraging you to reach out and get help.

“Sticking your head in the sand won’t solve anything.”

Pulleine, who is unemployed was asked if he was willing to do community work to which he replied yes.

He was given a six month community based order to complete 40 hours’ of unsupervised community service.