Ecstasy joke backfires for Feilding man

A "joke" birthday card sent to his sister from Holland rebounded on Feilding man Shane Allan de Malmanche when routine mail surveillance found two tablets of the party drug Ecstasy inside.

In the Palmerston North District Court yesterday, de Malmanche, a 33-year-old salesman, pleaded guilty to importing a class B drug.

Judge Phillip Connell said he accepted that it was a case of stupidity rather than criminal intent and fined him $600.

The court heard that de Malmanche was on an extended overseas tour and every year sent his sister a jokey birthday card.

While in Holland he had been given two tablets of Ecstasy and thought it would be funny to send them to her. The card was intercepted last April 9.