R v John Varga

[2009] NSWDC 416

CITATION:	R v John VARGA [2009] NSWDC 416
JUDGMENT DATE:	24 April 2009
JURISDICTION:	District Court of New South Wales
JUDGMENT OF:	Cogswell SC DCJ
DECISION:	I impose a sentence of imprisonment of 20 months. Under s 12 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 I make an order suspending the execution of the whole of the sentence for the whole of the period on the condition Mr Varga enter into a good behaviour bond for the period of 20 months.
CATCHWORDS:	CRIMINAL LAW - sentence - cultivating enhanced indoor cannabis plants - serious offence - serious gambling problem - sophisticated enterprise - full admissions to police - not a principal in the offence - likelihood of re-offending low
LEGISLATION CITED:	Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985 s 23(1A), s 33
TEXTS CITED:	R v DB [2001] NSWCCA 320
PARTIES:	Regina John Varga
FILE NUMBER(S):	2009/981
COUNSEL:	Mr Paish (for Mr Varga)
SOLICITORS:	Mr Kiru (NSW Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions)

JUDGMENT

1. John Varga has pleaded guilty to a serious crime. He is an elderly man in his early seventies who has a significant health problem. The question in sentencing him focuses on how I take into account his age and health in fixing an appropriate sentence for the serious crime he has committed.

2. The crime is cultivating enhanced indoor cannabis plants. It is a crime under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act 1985. S 23(1A) creates the crime and under s 33 of the same Act, Parliament has fixed a maximum of fifteen years imprisonment for this crime. So it is a very serious offence that Mr Varga has committed.

3. This is what happened. Mr Varga was a man in need. He had what he acknowledges was a serious gambling problem. He ran up a gambling debt on what he described as horses and dogs of something like $7,000. He was approached by a man known as Paul. Paul told him that if he took over the lease of a house and lived there for six months then his gambling debt would be cancelled.

4. Mr Varga agreed to this arrangement. The arrangement was not as straight-forward as it sounded and Mr Varga agreed not only to take over the lease of the house but to look after the cannabis plants that were concealed in the garage of the house. When police discovered the plants there were some nineteen plants. There was a sophisticated arrangement of lighting to generate the growth of the plants. There were other signs that it was a sophisticated enterprise. In addition to the plants, police found what are described as two drying beds each containing some cannabis head which was drying. In addition to the nineteen plants they found nearly four kilograms of dry cannabis.

5. Police discovered who Mr Varga was and about a month after police discovered the plantation, Mr Varga, who had seen his solicitor Mr Bergagnin, very wisely contacted the police on 11 August 2008…