Teen Claims She Tried Smuggling 394 Ecstasy Pills into Music Festival to ‘Help Her Family’
By Ryan General
Tina Phan, the aspiring nurse who pleaded guilty to supplying a prohibited drug at a music festival in Australia, claims she only did it to help her family.
The 18-year-old was busted after trying to smuggle 394 ecstasy capsules into Knockout Games of Destiny music festival at Sydney Olympic Park in early December, MailOnline reports.
When she faced Burwood Local Court last week, she admitted to concealing the illegal items in condoms inside her body.
According to her lawyer Cheryl Khurana, she only agreed to smuggle the drugs into the festival to help her family financially.
Khurana noted that her client accepted that it was an “extremely immature decision on her part” and that her entire family was shocked at her actions.
Khurana noted that her client accepted that it was an “extremely immature decision on her part” and that her entire family was shocked at her actions.
Phan, who hails from Canley Heights in New South Wales, had just completed her Higher School Certificate and had been accepted into the University of Technology Sydney to pursue a bachelor of nursing.
Khurana shared that her client is “very proud of that achievement.”
Phan has a job at Subway where she works four nights a week to help her single mother who had separated from her father after 21 years of marriage. She reportedly accepted an offer from a mutual acquaintance to take the dugs in the venue to earn extra money.
Described as an accomplished sportswoman, Phan is an active OZTAG football player and cross country runner.
“The irony is there for everyone to see,” Magistrate Louise McManus was quoted as saying. “Having 394 capsules of MDMA concealed internally is not just immature, it is a serious criminal offense and a deliberate act. I don’t accept she did it because of financial difficulties in the family.”
”I find it very hard to believe that anybody in this day and age doesn’t understand the risks of supplying and taking drugs at music festivals,” the magistrate noted. “And yet again we’ve seen people dying.”
McManus, who sentenced Phan to a 12-month community correction order including 80 hours of community service, said she hoped the defendant could continue with nursing.
“What is best is if you give back to the community,” she added.
“What is best is if you give back to the community,” she added.
Featured image via YouTube / Straya News
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