A teenage girl who was found to have internally concealed 394 MDMA capsules in an attempt to smuggle them into a Sydney hardstyle music festival has avoided jail.
18-year-old Tina Thanh Truc Phan pleaded guilty to a single offence of supplying a prohibited drug at the Knockout Games Of Destiny festival in Sydney Olympic Park on 8th December — the same festival where a 19-year-old man died following a suspected drug overdose, and three others were left in a critical condition.
Appearing in Burwood Local Court on Thursday, Phan was placed on a 12-month community correction order on the condition she performs 80 hours of community service and doesn’t commit any more offences, as Nine reports.
Phan, an aspiring nursing student, was one of more than 60 people who were allegedly found with drugs at Knockout Games Of Destiny.
“You were wanting to get into a career where you look after people,” Magistrate Louise McManus reportedly said in court.
“What you did wasn’t just an immature mistake, it was a criminal act that put people at risk.”
Phan’s solicitor Cheryl Khurana said her client “felt obligated to try and help out” with her family’s financial situation following the end of her parents’ 21-year marriage, Fairfax Media reports.
Over 18,000 people attended Knockout Games Of Destiny, which featured music from the likes of D-Block & S-te-Fan, Sefa and Rebel[ut]ion.
Earlier this week, a number of Australia’s biggest music festivals released an open letter calling on state and territory governments to allow pill testing trials at local events, in an attempt to prevent drug-related deaths.
However, New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian has repeatedly rejected calls for pill testing to be allowed at local festivals.
