STRESS OFFICERS 'GIVEN ECSTASY'

While on stress leave after shooting dead Roni Levi, Rodney Podesta
and Tony Dilorenzo were given ecstasy tablets to cheer up, an inquiry
has heard.

A friend of Podesta told the Police Integrity Commission yesterday he
was at Dancers nightclub "a week or a month" after the fatal shooting
on Bondi Beach on June 28, 1997.

"They were both on stress leave and the shooting was a topic of
conversation," he said.

"I gave some (ecstacy) to Rod but I didn't see him take
it.

"Podesta said he wanted to give ecstasy to Tony because he never has
any and he wanted to cheer him up."

The witness didn't see what they did with the tablets.

The hearing continues.