Cannabis grown in clearings

Press, 16 December 1988, Page 30

Cannabis grown in clearings

A jury in the District Court, after deliberating for 6i/i hours, found a Little River farmer guilty of a charge of cultivating cannabis on his property in Okuti Valley early this year. Evidence was that 320 cannabis plants were found growing in clearings in steep bush and scrub on the property of the defendant, Peter John Le Lievre, aged 39. A quantity of 4.1 g of cannabis was found in a plastic bag in a watercylinder cupboard in the farm-house. The cannabis and cannabis plants were found in a police search on March 28.

This was two days after a police sergeant watched, through binoculars, Le Lievre and another man, where the cannabis plants were growing in clearings in bush and scrub. The other man had a rifle slung over his shoulder.

During the subsequent police search, approaches to the clearings were seen to be marked with cyanide warning signs.

Upon the jury’s verdict, Judge Erber remanded Le Lievre in custody to December 22 for sentence.

The trial lasted three days. Mr B. M. Stanaway appeared with Ms L. L. Newman for the Crown, and Dr W. G. G. A. Young with Mr A. R. J. Bowers for Le Lievre. Le Lievre said in evidence that his property had a significant opossum problem and a man had laid cyanide baits to eradicate them.

When removing stock from the area he saw plants in a clearing. He had had no other occasion to go into the area where the cannabis was growing. His farm was in steep country, with some bush.

It was impossible to go over every square inch of the farm, he said. The defendant said he knew the plants were there and understood them to be cannabis. He had never seen living cannabis plants before.

He said he definitely did not plant the cannabis plants.

He had seen some plants in the clearings, as well as a bag of what he took to be manure, and an assortment of pottles.

He had found more plants when he was with the man he engaged to poison opossums, two days before the police visit, and had seen still more plants when in the company of the police during their search. *

He had picked some tops off plants two days before the police visit, to take back to the house to show his wife.

He spoke to her about

the plants he had found

His wife was concerned about the cannabis plants. At that stage they only thought there was a small number, but were concerned about who had been going on to their property. They believed the police might think the plants were theirs.

The cannabis material he had picked, and taken back to the house to show his wife, was put in a tin placed in a plastic bag and put in a water heater cupboard, out of reach of children.

A rifle, and cyanide and equipment had been taken when he and the man poisoning opossums visited the area, two days before the police visit.

The rifle was taken as, from experience, opossums could be flushed out of cover by the dogs.

He took the other man up to a clearing to show him the plants.

It was then that he picked some plant heads to take to the house to show his wife.

He and his companion discussed the matter, and who might have planted them.

His companion was pretty shocked and said he had not seen the plants or any activity, and had not been into that area of the bush. None of the cannabis he found was smoked.

They were concerned about the find, because it was obviously a reason-able-sized operation and the opossum hunter thought it could be gangrelated.

It explained some of the disappearances of items from round their house, Le Lievre said. Cross-examined, Le Lievre denied that he had had the area treated with cyanide baits to protect the cannabis plants from opossums.