A man who was caught with drugs after appearing to police with significant face injuries had his appeal against the legality of a police drug search denied. The 24-year-old, formerly from Mulwala, appeared at Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court on Thursday disputing the reasonability of a search by police on the night of 31 May last year. The court heard officers were alerted to a suspicious car parked on the driveway of the Wangaratta Magistrates’ Court on Faithfull Street around 9:15pm. The 24-year-old exited the driver’s seat with a bloodied face, a black eye, a missing tooth and with a golf club at the back of his jumper. After refusing to give context to his injuries, officers searched the man’s small bag and found 30 zanax tablets which prompted a search of the car. Inside the car was 132g of cannabis located in the passenger’s side. Paramedics arrived and took the 24-year-old to Northeast Health Wangaratta while he was placed under arrest for drug possession. Defence counsel Harrison Charles disputed the legality of the police search, saying there was no reasonable risk for officers to search the man’s bag or car where the drugs were stored. Mr Charles said his client was compliant and not under any erratic state when speaking with police and it was not indicated why he had his bag and car searched. The court heard the 24-year-old was homeless and living in his car at the time. Police prosecutor Leading Senior Constable Stuart Pritchard said there was a number of reasons police had appropriate suspicion to search the man, including the risk of weapons being found and to ensure the safety of themselves and paramedics arriving to attend to the man’s injuries. Magistrate Simon Zebrowski said the search of the man seemed reasonable, especially given the man’s history of trafficking and possessing drugs. “I’ve heard some fast and loose reasons for searches to be done for drugs, but this doesn’t seem to me like one of them,” he said. The 24-year-old made a guilty plea and will be sentenced at Cobram Magistrates’ Court on 16 September, when he will plea guilty to other matters.
