A person who began a “gardening challenge” through the pandemic that produced “much more” hashish than he anticipated has been sentenced to a few months in jail, absolutely suspended.
Police found over 4 kilograms of hashish at Michael Bruce Bankart Zodins’ property within the state’s far south throughout a 2022 raid.
The vegetation, buds and leaves have been stashed in snap-lock baggage all through his Lune River residence, together with in a transport container.
Zodins was charged with trafficking in a managed substance, which the jury in the end discovered him not responsible of.
Nonetheless, he was discovered responsible of possessing or utilizing a managed plant or its merchandise.
Justice Helen Wooden mentioned the hashish discovered was value roughly $5,000 per kilogram if offered by the kilogram.
The courtroom heard Zodins had cultivated the hashish himself, with 42 hashish root balls discovered inside a hothouse and one other 26 present in two different compounds close to the home.
He additionally had 48 small hashish vegetation rising in one of many hothouses.
By the point of his arrest, Zodins had been consuming hashish for a number of months and was ingesting a big quantity every week.
“He made cookies containing hashish and was additionally smoking it,” Wooden mentioned.
Zodins has used hashish intermittently since his teenage years and has a previous conviction from Queensland in 2002 for producing and possessing harmful medication associated to hashish.
Justice Wooden mentioned Zodins now has full-time shift work and has been consulting a psychologist since March 2023 and enterprise counselling, in addition to month-to-month drug screening for a interval of roughly 12 months with unfavourable outcomes.
She mentioned a high-quality, as submitted on Zodins’ behalf, could be “insufficient” and never deter others from committing comparable crimes.
“The defendant had possession of a really giant amount of hashish bud and this case falls in direction of the excessive finish of the dimensions of seriousness for this offence,” she mentioned.
“Whereas he had no intention to promote it or provide any of it on the time, he might have been prevailed upon to take action as soon as others grew to become conscious of his stash.”
“This hashish was a commodity that was extremely fascinating to criminals and, if found, there was additionally a powerful prospect it might need been stolen from him and offered and circulated locally.”
Justice Wooden mentioned she was glad there isn’t a want for private deterrence as Zodins has learnt a harsh lesson, having suffered nervousness, declined employment alternatives and incurred prices through the proceedings.
She recorded a conviction and imposed a three-month jail sentence, absolutely suspended for 2 years.
Zodins was additionally ordered to pay the prices of study of the drug, totalling $4,300.
The seized snap-lock baggage, develop lights, Tallyho papers and scales discovered on the property have been forfeited to the state.
