Source:
AUSTRALIAN 1997 p3
WEST AUSTRALIAN 1997 p5
DAILY TELEGRAPH 1997 p17

Manslaughter Charge For Heroin Supplier

In what is believed to be an Australian first, Perth detectives yesterday
charged a man with manslaughter over the alleged supply of highgrade
heroin to a 25yearold man who died from an overdose. "It's the first I'm
aware of in recent times where there's been a link between the allegation
of supply and the death of a subsequent user" assistant police commissioner
Bob Kucera said yesterday of the manslaughter charge. Mr Kucera claimed the
manslaughter charge, which in Western Australia carries a maximum penalty
of 20 years in jail, would "throw out a very firm message" to drug dealers.
However, the manslaughter charge drew immediate claims of police overkill.
"It seems that police have become as hysterical over heroin as politicians
and certain sections of the media" said prominent Perth criminal lawyer and
civil rights campaigner Richard Utting.

Meanwhile, the National Party will demand drug trafficking penalties
equivalent to those applying in Singapore and Thailand as a new weapon in
the fight against illegal drugs. A meeting of 40 federal and state National
Party MPs in Melbourne last night was expected to endorse the plan
involving fixed up to 50 years.

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