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A Bondi Junction agent has been cleared of drug possession charges after the Bankstown Local Court accepted that his ongoing mental health difficulties justified dismissal of the case.
A Sydney real estate agent who was found to have been hiding cocaine in his underpants has had his matter dismissed after successfully pledging for the Bankstown Local Court to consider ongoing mental health struggles.
Originally reported in the Daily Telegraph, Bondi Junction agent Theodore Penemenos pleaded guilty in Bankstown Local Court on 5 June 2025, to “possessing drugs and possessing suspected stolen goods”.
Last week in court on 25 July, Magistrate Glen Walsh accepted Penemenos’ application to have the charges dismissed on mental health grounds, reasoning that his provided medical reports showed the agent “has been clean” and was undergoing the “process of rehabilitation”.
In the lead-up to the ruling, documents given to the Bankstown Local Court stated that police were called to a home in Padstow Heights at 1am on 14 May 2024, due to a man being present outside the property.
Penemenos was then located with a woman’s passport and not able to explain why he was in possession of the document, before being found to be in breach of earlier bail conditions and subsequently being taken into custody at Bankstown Police Station.
While spending the night in custody, Penemenos was observed to have been fidgeting in his cell, with law enforcement explaining the agent put his back to CCTV cameras while manipulating his “groin and upper leg area” and looking over his shoulder.
Upon being questioned by police, Penemenos replied he was “playing with his penis”, but was later found to be in possession of a small sealable bag containing 9.4 grams of cocaine the Daily Telegraph reported.
After injuring his left hand by repeatedly punching a perspex screen, Penemenos was then taken to the nearby Bankstown Hospital.
Last Friday (25 July) at the Bankstown Local Court, Penemenos’s lawyer applied for a “section 14 mental health application” on her client’s behalf, wherein she explained the agent had been receiving treatment for his mental health issues and complying with all orders from law enforcement.
The lawyer also said Penemenos had been “dealing with his demons” by actively seeking treatment for his ADHD and PTSD, and added his treatment would be “more structured” in the community as opposed to in the “hands of community corrections”.
Walsh then agreed to the pledge, stating that he “wholeheartedly” accepted Penemenos’ “diagnosis” and “treatment plan”.
The magistrate then instructed Penemenos to continue on with his treatment, before warning him that he would face court again if he reoffends.
“You must not commit an offence and you must follow your treatment,” Walsh said.
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