Cannabis grown at ‘former’ home
BETWEEN 2011 and 2017, Leon Honey had eight jobs.
But as far as the Ministry of Social Development knew he had been unemployed, which meant the 42yearold was paid more than $33,000 in benefits to which he was not entitled.
When they got wise to his lies, further deception was uncovered.
In February 2015, Honey told the ministry he was moving house from Corstorphine to Calton Hill.
His rent would rise from $106 to $185, he informed them, and his accommodation supplement would have to increase.
He provided a residential tenancy agreement to validate his claims.
Only Honey did not move house at all.
He had forged the tenancy forms and continued to live in Corstorphine Rd.
The audacity grew in April 2017, when Honey told the ministry his rent had risen again to $190 a week — more lies.
In June investigators spoke to the defendant about the fraud and he accepted wrongdoing.
‘‘He stated he was aware of his obligations and freely admitted he had lied to Work and Income in regards to where he was living,’’ a summary of facts stated.
Four charges of wilful omission were laid, five of using a document for a pecuniary advantage, and one of using a forged document.
Honey admitted the charges before the Dunedin District Court.
But it did not stop him offending.
‘‘While awaiting sentence on that, he’s busily cultivating cannabis,’’ Judge Kevin Phillips told the court this week.
Police went to the Corstorphine home Honey had lived in all along and found two cannabis plants in a hallway cupboard.
In his wardrobe were 18 more, ranging in height from 1070cm and growing under heat lamps.
‘‘Both areas had been converted specifically for this purpose, with the bedroom wardrobe lined with plastic,’’ police said.
‘‘There were also a number of related items including a trans former and fans being used in these areas.’’
Honey told officers he could not afford to buy the classC drug and would use it for pain relief.
To make matters worse, Crown prosecutor Marie Grills said, the defendant was serving a sentence at the time of his offending for previous dishonesty convictions.
Defence counsel Campbell Savage advocated for a sentence of home detention and referenced his client’s struggles with substance abuse.
But Judge Phillips was not persuaded.
‘‘The acts were clearly premeditated and planned. You knew . . . exactly what you were doing and you were being blatantly deceitful and dishonest for a lengthy period of time,’’ he said.
Honey, he said, had shown no remorse and he noted the man had four previous convictions for cannabis cultivation.
Judge Phillips jailed him for a year.