R v Nguyen; R v Tran

District Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:

R v NGUYEN; R v TRAN [2011] NSWDC 135

Hearing dates:

1 July 2011

Decision date:

01 July 2011

Jurisdiction:

Criminal

Before:

Berman SC DCJ

Decision:

In each case sentenced to imprisonment.

Mr Tran's sentence consists of a non parole period of eighteen months and a head sentence of two and a half years.

My Nguyen's sentence consists of a non parole period of ten months and a head sentence of eighteen months.

Catchwords:

CRIMINAL LAW - Sentence - Form 1 - Cultivating prohibited drug by enhanced means - Knowingly take part in cultivation - Using electricity without authority - Parity

Legislation Cited:

Drug Misuse and Traffickinig Act

Category:

Sentence

Parties:

The Crown
Thi Puong Loan Nguyen
Giang Nam Tran

Representation:

Mr G Jones - offenders
Director of Public Prosecutions
A K N and Associates Solicitors and Barristers

File Number(s):

2010/307744 2010/307833

Judgment

1. HIS HONOUR: It is undeniable that the community has become increasingly concerned about the hydroponic cultivation of cannabis. That concern is reflected in an amendment to the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act creating the offence of cultivating a prohibited plant by enhanced means.

1. The concern arises because of a growing awareness that cannabis cannot accurately be described as a soft drug; that it causes substantial harm both to the users of that drug, and to the community in general; and because the enhanced means usually have the effect of increasing the concentration of tetrahydrocannabinol in the plants, which make the drug thereby produced much more potent.

1. In those circumstances it is incumbent upon the Courts to respond appropriately when offences such as those currently before me are detected.

1. I have before me a husband and wife for sentence. The husband, Giang Nam Tran, pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity to an offence of cultivating a commercial quantity of a prohibited plant, by enhanced means.

1. His wife, Thi Puong Nguyen, pleaded guilty to knowingly taking part in such an offence.

1. On 15 September last year police executed a search warrant on premises at Rockdale after they had been conducting surveillance there. When they executed the search warrant both the offenders were present. As police gained entry Mr Tran was seen to be wearing gardening gloves. Ms Nguyen ran to the back of the house but was detained.

1. As police examined the inside of the house they found that the vast majority of the space inside had been converted to rooms for the purpose of growing cannabis. Only the lounge and kitchen were habitable, with all other rooms containing cannabis plants at various stages in the growth cycle.

1. The usual paraphernalia was there: high strength halogen lighting; water pumps; and an exhaust system. There were chemicals and length of hose as well.

1. In total 139 cannabis plants were found. To put that in context the commercial quantity is 50 plants, and the large commercial quantity is 200. Also located at the premises were four garbage bags of cannabis leaf in a…