Former South Australian Liberal party leader David Speirs has been convicted of supplying cocaine, months after denying involvement and claiming a video showing him snorting a white substance was a \u201cdeepfake.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Thursday, an Adelaide court fined Speirs A$9,000 (\u00a34,311; $5,720) and ordered him to complete 37.5 hours of community service. The 39-year-old was also convicted, despite his legal team\u2019s request for the court to avoid recording the offence.<\/p>\n
Speirs was arrested in September following the release of footage by News Corp that appeared to show him snorting cocaine off a plate. At the time, he insisted the footage was fabricated and claimed he had never used drugs.<\/p>\n
He later admitted he had lied and stepped down from parliament amid the resulting public and political backlash. In March, Speirs pleaded guilty to supplying cocaine to two men in August.<\/p>\n
His defence argued that he used drugs \u201cas a form of escapism\u201d from work-related stress, but clarified that the offences occurred outside of his professional duties. Nonetheless, prosecutors maintained that the matter was in the public interest due to Speirs\u2019 high-ranking political role.<\/p>\n
Magistrate Brian Nitschke refused the request to avoid recording a conviction, citing the seriousness of the offence and the need for public accountability. \u201cThe need for public denunciation for this type of offending and the need for general deterrence is too great,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He acknowledged the stress Speirs may have been under but emphasized that it was \u201ccertainly no excuse\u201d for his actions.<\/p>\n
Speirs had led the South Australian Liberal party since 2022 and served a decade in the state parliament. His fall from grace has stirred public and media reaction, especially after his initial claims were proven false.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Former South Australian Liberal party leader David Speirs has been convicted of supplying cocaine, months after denying involvement and claiming a video showing him snorting a white substance was a \u201cdeepfake.\u201d On Thursday, an Adelaide court fined Speirs A$9,000 (\u00a34,311; $5,720) and ordered him to complete 37.5 hours of community service. The 39-year-old was also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":6963,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[25],"tags":[499],"class_list":{"0":"post-6962","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-international","8":"tag-australian"},"yoast_head":"\n