A University of Wollongong scholarship winner has been convicted of drug possession after he was found with ecstasy, LSD, cannabis and valium at a music festival on the South Coast.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Engineering student Oliver Thomas Burgess-Buxton, 23, was detected carrying the illegal substances by a drug detection dog as he tried to enter the Dragon Dreaming Festival at Wee Jasper on the afternoon of October 23 last year.
Police documents tendered to the court during Burgess-Buxton’s sentence hearing in Port Kembla on Tuesday said police pulled his vehicle over near the entry to the festival and deployed a drug detection dog, who indicated the presence of drugs in bags on the rear passenger seat.
Burgess-Buxton immediately fessed up, telling officers “I’ve got some stuff in that bag”.
A search revealed he had seven ecstasy pills, three valium pills, six diazepam tablets, four tabs of LSD and seven cannabis cigarettes.
Burgess-Buxton told police all the drugs belonged to him and were for his “personal use”.
He pleaded guilty to four charges in court, with his lawyer saying he was very remorseful for what he’d done.
“This was a poor choice to escape various stresses in his life at the time,” the lawyer said.
Burgess-Buxton was placed on a 16-month good behaviour bond, escaping more serious punishment due to his cooperation with police.
