La Louvière resident avoids imprisonment in drugs case
A court converted a twelve-month custodial sentence into a suspended sentence for a La Louvière resident caught with cannabis and small packaging sachets.
La Louvière resident avoids imprisonment in drugs case
A La Louvière resident has been given a second chance by the courts. Convicted by default to one year in prison in October 2025 for possession and dealing of cannabis, he saw his sentence commuted to a suspended sentence when he appealed.
The facts date back to an intervention by law enforcement officers from the Binche-Anderlues zone. The officers intercepted a car from which emanated a characteristic odour of drugs. Even before being searched, the driver handed the police officers an envelope containing 2.69 grammes of resin, as well as a block weighing close to 100 grammes. At his home, investigators also discovered several hundred small empty sachets.
The defence lawyers contested the regularity of the body search. They argued that the police officers had exceeded their legal authority. The judges did not take up this argument, finding that the officers had acted within the limits provided by the police function legislation.
On the material level, the hypothesis of simple collective consumption among friends was not accepted. The court preferred to uphold the element of distribution.
At the time of sentencing, the defendant's unblemished character, his professional and social integration, and his assurance that he had stopped all consumption, prompted the magistrates to favour a mitigating measure. He thus escapes detention, provided that he does not commit any offence during the thirty-six months to come.
Source: DHnet
Source: DHnet