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http://www.smh.com.au/rugby-league/...er-tattoo-pain-and-anxiety-20100606-xn9g.html
Tattoos and anxiety eh?
I'd be anxious too if a copper found valium in my pockets with someone else's name on it.
Friend says he needed valium pills to counter tattoo pain and anxiety
BRAD WALTER
June 7, 2010
That's the tatt … Jake Friend has been getting his right arm inked in stages but says the pain still requires medication. Photo: Getty Images
A NEW tattoo is understood to be behind Jake Friend's latest brush with the law, with the Sydney Roosters hooker arrested for possessing two valium tablets without prescription after being searched by police in Coogee on Saturday night.
The Herald was told Friend had the tablets to relieve pain from tattoo work done last week, as well as help with anxiety, and will plead not guilty to the charge.
The 20-year-old hooker was sacked by the Roosters in December after three alcohol-related police charges in the previous eight months but was reinstated last month when he convinced the club he was dealing with his problems.
He has had extensive ink work in recent weeks.
Because of the size of the tattoo, a sleeve running down his right arm, Friend has been adding to it each week and more remains to be done.
He has been getting the work done in stages due to the pain and is understood to have been given the pills for that reason but had not taken them.
He and a 24-year-old friend, believed to be Roosters teammate Todd Carney, were searched by police from the Eastern Suburbs Area Command on the promenade at Coogee Beach. They had been at McDonald's when stopped by the police officers at 11.50pm on Saturday night after the Roosters' 42-18 loss to Cronulla. It was unclear why the pair were targetted.
A police spokesman said Friend was found to have a quantity of valium without a prescription.
He was arrested and charged with two counts of possessing a prescription drug without permission.
Friend was given bail and is due at Waverley Local Court on June 30.
After speaking to Friend and the club's medical staff, Roosters officials said they would stand by the hooker and expected him to be cleared of any wrongdoing. ''Whilst understanding the sensitivity in regards to the police investigation, the club has consulted with its own medical staff and is of the firm belief that there is an innocent explanation,'' a statement said.
''The club believes that as the charges are addressed and dealt with appropriately this will become clear to all parties.''
Friend has had a troubled few years at the Roosters. His contract was torn up in December after he was charged with refusing to pay a taxi fare.
Saturday night's match was Friend's fourth since the Roosters agreed to re-sign him last month on a contract containing strict behavioural guidelines.
For the previous four months he had been working in a cafe while going through counselling and rehabilitation in a bid to save his career after being convicted of drink driving and charged with an alleged nightclub assault in 2009.
Friend was sacked in December after a taxi driver took him to Randwick police station when he fell asleep. He became abusive when woken.
Tattoos and anxiety eh?
I'd be anxious too if a copper found valium in my pockets with someone else's name on it.
