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A masseuse busted with a cache of illegal drugs after leaving embattled TV star Andrew O’Keefe’s house has been fined $1,000.
Mitchell Rees Sturt, 52, was stopped by officers moments after exiting the former Deal or No Deal host’s Vaucluse home in Sydney‘s eastern suburbs during the early hours of November 24.
He was arrested after police searched a silver Mercedes Benz and found a black bag filled with a cocktail of drugs, including methylamphetamine, cannabis, GHB, cocaine and LSD. O’Keefe was not charged in relation to the incident.
Wearing a medical shoe, the remedial massage therapist faced Downing Centre Local Court on Friday after pleading guilty to five counts of drug possession.
Sturt’s lawyer Sam Abbas admitted his client ‘had control over the bag’ and was aware of its contents, but said he only planned on possessing the drugs ‘for a limited time’, The Daily Telegraph reports.
Mitchell Rees Sturt, 52, (pictured) has been fined $1000 after admitting to possessing a cocktail of drugs which were found inside a Mercedes Benz last November
Sturt was arrested shortly after leaving troubled TV star Andrew O’Keefe’s (pictured) home in Vaucluse around 1:40am on November 24
According to police facts, officers spotted Sturt and a female leaving the residence on Old South Head Rd around 1:40am before walking towards a car parked on nearby Belah Ave.
After noticing the police car, the pair ran away – but they were later found by the officers who searched them along with the Mercedes Benz.
Sturt told the officer’s everything inside the car was his except for items on the back seat – which included the black bag.
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The bag was found to contain a clear smoking pipe, set of scales, and two silver tins – one containing 12.6g of methylamphetamine and the other a bag of cocaine and three LSD tabs.
There was also two metal flasks, a clear resealable bag with a large crystalline shard, and an orange container which contained GHB and a cannabis-liquid-filled e-cigarette.
Sturt, from Abbotsford in Sydney’s inner west, is pictured playing cricket
The television presenter was the face of several iconic hit Channel Seven shows – including Deal or No Deal and The Chase Australia
Sturt was arrested and taken to Waverley police station where he told officers the items did not belong to him. He refused to answer all other questions.
Mr Abbas told the court Sturt, who is in the process of applying for a carer’s pension as he looks after his mother, was a remedial therapist until Covid impacted his business.
He added that the offences were a ‘monumental blemish’ on Sturt’s life.
Deputy chief magistrate Theo Tsavdaridis agreed Sturt was unlikely to commit further offences and ‘does not belong in this jurisdiction’.
Accepting that Sturt’s interaction with the drugs was ‘fleeting’, Mr Tsavdaridis issued him with a fine and placed him on an 18-month community corrections order.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk
