Cannabis grower Ian Thomas McCrimmon had wanted his case dealt with without delay.
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He fronted Albury Local Court this week, pleaded guilty and then expected to be sentenced immediately.
Magistrate Tony Murray was readying to fix a date for that when McCrimmon’s solicitor piped up.
He was ready to have the matter all settled right now, if that was all right, she said.
But it wasn’t. Mr Murray said the case was not a trifling one and could not be wrapped up so quickly.
“This is a very serious matter sir that brings you to the court,” he told McCrimmon, who had pleaded guilty to a charge of cultivating a prohibited plant.
McCrimmon, dressed in work jeans and a bright blue, long-sleeved shirt, showed no reaction to the comment.
Mr Murray said the seriousness of McCrimmon’s predicament was made abundantly clear by the value of his small crop.
Police facts provided to the court indicated the drugs had a street value of at least $10,000.
He said that meant McCrimmon could not be sentenced before a pre-sentence report was done.
The court was told how police, acting on a tip-off, went to the Gerogery West Road, Gerogery, property of McCrimmon, 55, on July 1 about 8.50am.
They knocked on his front door and had a short conversation with McCrimmon, then were allowed inside to carry out a search.
They continued this search in a single-axle caravan out back.
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Inside they found a curtain of black plastic, which when pulled aside revealed two large cannabis plants in pots.
Each was at least a metre tall, having done so well thanks to a fully automated watering system.
It was estimated the plants had been growing for at least three months.
Mr Murray adjourned the case against McCrimmon to September 17 for sentencing.
He said that given the value of the cannabis plants, it was appropriate for a pre-sentence report to be prepared – both for McCrimmon and the court.