No jail for Masterton drug haul

A Masterton man found with almost 10 times enough cannabis to be charged with supplying has escaped with a conviction for possession of the drug for his personal use.

Warren Neville Davies, 59, sickness beneficiary, pleaded guilty in the Masterton District Court to a charge of possession of 262 grams of cannabis, despite a presumption of possession for supply requiring only 28g.

Judge Peter Hobbs heard that on June 8 this year, police executed a search warrant at Davies' property.

While they were there, Davies was seen throwing a snaplock container, which was later found to contain four individual ounce bags of the drug, over a neighbour's fence, he heard.

The search uncovered another five ounce bags of cannabis in Davies' bedroom, along with a further 7g of the drug in a plastic container.

Police estimated the street value of the drugs found to be between $2250 and $4500.

Judge Hobbs was told police accepted the cannabis was for Davies' personal use and that he was known to use it to self-medicate to help alleviate neck, back and shoulder pain.

Davies was fined $500, with court costs of $132.89. Judge Hobbs ordered the cannabis to be destroyed.

The news was not so good for another Masterton cannabis smoker, who was sentenced to 11 months' prison by Judge Hobbs when he too appeared yesterday.

Simon Mark Christie who had 32 previous convictions - with nine of those being drug related - was told by Judge Hobbs that he had a blase attitude towards cannabis cultivation.

Christie was appearing for sentence on a charge of cannabis cultivation, after police found several large cannabis plants by his back door, a purpose-built growing room with another six plants in it and a further 20 plants throughout the house, ranging in size from 50cm to 2m. A set of scales was also found.

In sentencing Christie to 11 months' prison, Judge Hobbs told him he found his claim the cannabis was for his personal use "dubious" and that he had an extensive history of drug offending.

Judge Hobbs said Christie had been described by the probation serive as showing a high risk of reoffending and a lack of remorse.