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A judge yesterday granted bail to a man facing life imprisonment on drug charges, saying a backlog in methamphetamine cases meant his trial was likely to be a year away.
Royce Allan Duncan and his wife, Alison Justice Duncan, are jointly charged with possession and supply of methamphetamine.
Cash and methamphetamine worth a total of more than $100,000 were allegedly found at their property.
The location of the property has been suppressed.
When the couple appeared in the Tauranga District Court on Friday, Mrs Duncan, 39, was granted bail, but her husband, 44, was kept in custody because police opposed bail.
In court yesterday, lawyer Paul Mabey, QC, said Royce Duncan should be given bail because he faced a wait of at least a year for a trial.
Judge Peter Rollo said he had concerns about giving Duncan bail because substantial amounts of cash and methamphetamine had been found in his bedroom.
But he agreed that the matter was unlikely to go to trial for a year.
"There's a backlog of methamphetamine cases in the High Court," Judge Rollo said.
"It would be unjust to remand you in custody for that length of time."
The Duncans were ordered to reappear on July 12 for a predepositions hearing.
