R v Wei

[2014] NSWDC 33

District Court

New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation:

R v Wei [2014] NSWDC 33

Hearing dates:

6 March 2014

Decision date:

06 March 2014

Before:

Berman SC DCJ

Decision:

Taking into account matters on a Form 1, sentenced to imprisonment consisting of a non-parole period of 2 years and a head sentence of 3½ years.

Order the destruction of the drugs

Catchwords:

CRIMINAL LAW - Sentence - Form 1 - Cultivating by enhanced indoor means more than the commercial quantity of cannabis - Supply cannabis - Unauthorised use of electricity - labourer in a large scale drug operation

Category:

Sentence

Parties:

The Crown
Vincent Lim Chee Wei

Representation:

Counsel:
Mr G Jones - Offender
Solicitors:
Director of Public Prosecutions

File Number(s):

2013/218962

SENTENCE

1. HIS HONOUR: As Mr Jones, who appears for the offender Vincent Lim Chee Wei, recognises, the Courts deal with quite a few offences of the type I am about to describe. It seems now relatively commonplace for uneducated Asians illegally in Australia to be approached by those involved in what must be fairly large scale cannabis supply, to look after their hydroponic cannabis growing operations.

1. In this case police went to a four bedroom house in Epping on Thursday 18 July 2013. They had spent the previous two days watching those premises and observed the offender coming and going. Once they got inside after knocking at the door and receiving no response, they saw a number of things. In particular they found that the entirety of the premises, except for the rear living room and kitchen, were devoted to the growing of cannabis plants. The other thing of importance they found was the offender lying on a single bed in the rear living room. He was arrested and taken to the police station where he was later interviewed.

1. Police located 135 growing cannabis plants, 78 lamp shades, 151 light globes and 82 transformers. This was a significantly large scale operation. They also found a number of bags containing what proved to be cannabis leaf; 833.9 grams in fact. Not surprisingly it was discovered that the electricity metre had been bypassed.

1. The supply of that cannabis and the unauthorised use of the electricity are charges on a Form 1 which I will take into account when sentencing the offender for the charge to which he pleaded guilty in the Local Court, cultivating by enhanced indoor means more than the commercial quantity of cannabis plants. That is an offence carrying a maximum penalty of fifteen years imprisonment. It does not have a standard non-parole period attached to it.

1. I mentioned before that the offender was interviewed by police. He told police that he had lived at the premises for several weeks and his job was to water the plants every morning and to mix fertiliser into the water. He said that he was paid $200 a week for this work and had been promised a ticket to Malaysia at the end of the operation. He told police that he…