A 61-year-old man has been sentenced after he spiked his date's drink with amphetamine to "cheer her up" while they were out at Towradgi Beach Hotel.
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Dapto's Arthur Thomas Moulton fronted Wollongong Local Court on Tuesday where he was lambasted by Magistrate Gabriel Fleming who labelled Moulton's actions "dishonest, a kind of entrapment and appalling".
"To spike someone's drink with illicit drugs to cheer them up is rubbish," Magistrate Fleming said. "You don't secretly put illicit drugs into a drink. You are a mature man, you know that is not right.
"You had a short relationship with her... then you go and abuse that trust."
Magistrate Fleming said Moulton's actions could have been dire given he did not know the woman's medical history or how she would react to the amphetamine.
Moulton's defence lawyer Graeme Morrison claimed his client's motives were not "sexual" but rather he wanted to "cheer up" his date as she was having a "particularly sad day".
"He is a lonely man who found an acquaintance, a friend and tried to cheer her up, that was what was going through his brain and he acknowledges it was wrong," Mr Morrison said.
Documents tendered to court said Moulton, who is casually employed as a fitter and turner and lives with his elderly parents, met the woman on an online dating site earlier this year before they arranged to go on two dates.
On April 9, the pair met at Towradgi Beach Hotel where they had drinks and dinner.
Moulton went to the bar to buy his date a third alcoholic drink and whilst there the barmaid saw him remove a substance from a clear resealable bag and drop it into the woman's drink before returning to their table.
The woman immediately started drinking her beer, not knowing he had spiked it, while the barmaid told her manager.
The manager and a security guard approached the couple before Moulton was forced to tell her, "I put gas in your drink".
The manager saw a hard substance was dissolving in the bottom of the glass and Moulton asked if the woman could finish the drink.
The manager refused to give back the drink and asked Moulton to leave the hotel.
In the car park, the woman asked Moulton, "what the hell did you do that for?" to which he replied "I'm so sorry I shouldn't have done it".
Once the woman was at home she started to feel her heart rate was elevated, was very alert and her eyes were dilated. She felt like that for three days.
The same night, police attended the hotel for a routine licence inspection of the premises and the manager notified them of the drink spiking incident but was unable to provide them with the couple's details, however CCTV was viewed.
The next day the woman reported the incident to police and she was tested at Wollongong Hospital, revealing the presence of amphetamines in her urine.
On April 21, Moulton went to Wollongong Police Station telling them he spiked the woman's drink to make her "happy and have a good evening".
He was charged with giving a drink that contained intoxicating substance to harm.
In court, Mr Morrison said the pair had talked about potentially taking drugs but Moulton did not have a drug problem and the manner in which he spiked the drink was "hardly secretive".
Mr Morrison said Moulton knew it was an "absolutely stupid thing to do", was remorseful and understood the serious consequences of his actions and was undergoing treatment from a psychologist.
Moulton was placed on a community corrections order, and must complete 100 hours of community service work and counselling.
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