ANGER AT DRUG CASE DECISION

POLICE were so shocked by the leniency shown by one particular
magistrate that they have asked to lecture all of them.In an official
Victoria Police protest letter, police have suggested to Victoria's
Chief Magistrate, Michael Adams, QC, that their experts address the
state's magistrates about the dangers of amphetamine
laboratories.

The letter, written by one of Victoria Police's most senior officers,
on behalf of the drug squad, was prompted by the rare decision of
magistrate Jillian Crowe to hear the case of a man charged with
manufacturing amphetamines.

Former drug squad chief John McKoy, who retired last week, said he
didn't know of any other such case in the past that had not been
referred to a higher court.

The maximum jail term a magistrate can hand down for manufacturing
amphetamines is three years, compared with the 15-year maximum
available to County Court judges.

Ms Crowe last month gave amphetamine manufacturer Agostino Attardi a
four-month suspended jail sentence and fined him $10,000.

Attardi, 43, pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and cultivating
cannabis.

He had an amphetamine laboratory operating in the garage of his home
in Lee Ave, Springvale North, when police arrested him.

The prosecution had argued for the case to be referred to a higher
court on the grounds that amphetamine laboratories present a danger to
the community.

It argued that while the amount of finished amphetamine found at
Attardi's lab was small it could potentially produce large quantities.

Ms Crowe said police had made secret entries into the Attardi lab
before charging him so they couldn't have thought it was too dangerous.

But a police source said police officers who enter a clandestine
amphetamine laboratory have been trained to look for danger and have a
chemist with them who determines if the lab is safe.

The prosecution told Ms Crowe that police discovered a potentially
dangerous chemical reaction taking place on one visit to the lab.

If the water supply had been disrupted there could have been an
explosion, they said.

"The magistrate in this case didn't appear to understand the
implications of amphetamine labs," Mr McKoy said.

"We are going to suggest the drug squad provides an information
session to magistrates to allow them to understand the dangers."

These included the danger of an explosion and the volume of drugs
produced in the labs.

Mr McKoy said the magistrate's decision set a dangerous precedent and
the drug squad expected such cases to be dealt with in a superior
court, where the penalties are greater.

"If we identify labs we stop the drug hitting the streets," he
said.

A spokeswoman for Mr Adams said neither he nor Ms Crowe could comment
on the Attardi case or the police criticism.

Mr Adams has not yet replied to the request.