HISTORIC DRUG COURT HEARS FIRST THREE CASES

THE first session at the NSW Drug Court ended yesterday with no
drug-addicted candidate offered a guaranteed place in the new
rehabilitation program.

The inaugural court sitting - which finished within 20 minutes - saw
three offenders face Judge Gay Murrell at Parramatta Court House.

One offender required further assessment, another was sent to a prison
hospital for detoxification and a third granted an adjournment to move
his car and farewell his mother.

None of the trio was promised they would be among the 300 offenders
accepted into the two-year pilot program.

Accused drug dealer Jamal Ajaj, 32, "appeared to be eligible" but
needed to undergo a seven-day detoxification inside Silverwater jail's
hospital, the court was told.

Drug Court candidates are kept separate from prison inmates while they
are detoxified and evaluated.

Ajaj's barrister John Peluso said the labourer was "extremely willing
to got straight to Silverwater".

"But he has an elderly mother who is very sick and he wants to see her
before he goes into a custody situation," he said.

"And he has a motor vehicle here in Parramatta that he has to take
home."

Ajaj, who is accused of supplying cannabis, told Judge Murrell he
understood he may be rejected from the trial after further assessment
at Silverwater jail.

The second offender to face the court, Robert Ronald Daw, had not been
assessed as suitable, prosecutor Johanna Pheils said.

Daw, 32, faces nine charges including possessing cannabis, travelling
in stolen cars, breaching a restraining order and carrying
car-breaking implements.

The Granville man's drug dependency required further evaluation, Ms
Pheils said.

The only man granted access to one of the six prison beds assigned to
Drug Court offenders, Quang Le, 23, will begin a detoxification
process today.

Judge Murrell explained the program would not be easy.

"You might be in there (the prison hospital) for a week or so and at
the end there is no guarantee you will get into a Drug Court program,
because you may not be suitable," she told Le.

"And there may be no places available even if you are
suitable."

Le, who is charged with possessing and supplying heroin, was refused
bail and directed to return to court on February 17.

Daw will remain on conditional bail until he faces court again next
week.

Ajaj and another three offenders will face court today.

Daw and Ajaj refused to comment as they left the court after
yesterday's hearing.

But Le's lawyer Debbie Morton said she was extremely pleased with the
first session.

"He (Le) has a fairly positive attitude," she said outside the court.
"He acknowledges he has a problem and he wants to address that problem."

She said if the court could assist addicts and help them rather than
put them in jail the public would benefit.