Man arrested for part in 200 plant cannabis operation spared prison

Trevor Perry, a 57-year-old disabled pensioner from Sanctuary Point (2 hours south of Sydney) has been spared a prison sentence for his part in the crime. On April 3, 2018, the local police, with the investigative assistance from the South Coast Police District carried out a number of raids and searches on various bushlands. They found 203 mature cannabis plants worth more than $400,000 on the street. A search warrant was then executed on Trevor's home the following day where various amounts of cannabis leaf and buds were found. As well as a single lonesome cannabis plant growing in his front yard. He was arrested and charged with a number of offences including possessing a prohibited drug, possessing a prohibited weapon and supplying and cultivating a prohibited plant. He pleaded guilty to all. More recently, on March 5, 2019, his sentencing was handed down. But it consisted of no jail time. Instead, Magistrate Gabriel Fleming issued an 18-month intensive corrections order along with 100 hours of community service. Trevor is the second man in the past week to escape a jail sentence for marijuana cultivation. Further up on the New South Wales coast in Crescent Head, Tony Bower also received an 18-month intensive corrections order for growing around 280 cannabis plants for medicinal use. Keep in mind, both men do not seem to be growing cannabis with malicious intent or be part of a hardened criminal organisation.