CRIM’S BUMPER CROP

A GREEN-THUMB says his cannabis plants thrived in the fertile soil of his family farm near Colac, but says the drought-ravaged property now struggles to sustain a legitimate business.

Brett Cole grew 12 cannabis plants, each more than 2m high on rural properties at Warrion, north of Colac, and was jailed yesterday after admitting the cultivation.

County Court judge Jeanette Morrish said the plants “grew like Topsy”, producing 54kg of cannabis, more than double the commercial quantity. They were found by police in raids on properties on Riccarton and Finns roads in April.

Despite the quantity of the narcotic unearthed, Cole, 32, said it was exclusively for his personal use to manage pain, and his lawyer argued he should walk from court on a corrections order without even being made to do unpaid community work.

The court was told the defendant’s family had farmed the property for more than a century, and his elderly par- ents were transitioning it from a dairy operation to beef production but struggling to make a living from it.

Cole’s mother told court her husband had cancer, and without their son’s support they would likely be forced to sell their 120ha property.

“(The mother said) that would be a devastating outcome … your father is desperate to keep the farm,” Judge Morrish said.

The court heard Cole grew the plants from seeds bought on the internet, and they were discovered outside, covered in shade cloth.

The judge said the plants grew faster and bigger than the man anticipated in soil that was “rich in nutrients and fertile”.

When police raided on April 5 they also found “green vegetable matter” hung up inside a house and a disused dairy, some of it being dried by fans and lights.

Cole told them he had not been trafficking the drug, arguing a new set of digital scales they found were only for regulation kitchen use.

Judge Morrish said the man was not prosecuted on the basis he had sold the drugs, but the quantity he had admitted cultivating legally compelled her to jail him.

The defence argued locking him up would have a “devastating impact” on his family, and this, along with his remorse, prospects of rehabilitation, clean criminal record, early guilty plea and the fact he was not accused of growing for profit, amounted to exceptional circumstance that should allow him to avoid jail.

After considering those factors, Judge Morrish ruled she had “no alternative but to impose a sentence of imprisonment”, ordering Cole spend nine months behind bars.