FruityBud
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A WOMAN busted with almost 1000 dope plants was spared jail yesterday after she blamed the harsh Tableland frosts for needing to grow such a big crop.
Chauntelle Denise McCosh, 38, pleaded guilty to producing 550 marijuana plants in an irrigated, fenced-off paddock, as well as tending a nursery of 360 seedlings on Ravenshoe acreage, but her defence counsel argued it was not a commercial operation.
"It was simply to cater for the significant attrition rate of growing these plants through winter in Ravenshoe, which is one of the coldest areas on the Tableland," solicitor Philip Bovey told the Cairns Supreme Court hearing.
"They were planted in April and would ultimately have come to maturity in July and that would involve growing through the winter months in Ravenshoe; an area of significant frosts."
Mr Bovey said the few plants strong enough to survive would have been enough for the use of Ms McCosh and her partner, claiming commercial quantities would be grown hydroponically or in hothouses.
"They would not grow it outdoors where it would be ravaged by the harsh winter," Mr Bovey said.
Crown prosecutor Michael Connolly said the crop, found during a police search of the Gold Coast Rd property on April 29 last year, was made up of rows of well-tended 25cm plants, surrounded by hay.
The 6cm seedlings were found in five styrofoam boxes on a nearby table.
"There are obviously a large number of plants although they werent fully grown," Mr Connolly said.
"There are concerns also that there was a nursery there the site itself had a level of preparation that was indicative that a long-term production was intended.
"It indicates something more than a mere passing interest in cultivation."
Mr Bovey said his client, who had been with her partner for 17 years and home-schooled their three children, started using marijuana when her partner did to relieve back pain from an old work injury.
The couple then converted an old vegetable garden on their farm to grow dope for their own use.
He said the couples main source of income was a lucrative business breeding rare American bulldog puppies which they sold for $3500 apiece.
Justice Stanley Jones ordered Ms McCosh perform 180 hours of community service over the next 12 months and did not record a conviction.
Due to laryngitis, he reserved the reasons for his sentence until a later time.
hxxp://shuurl.com/R4906
Chauntelle Denise McCosh, 38, pleaded guilty to producing 550 marijuana plants in an irrigated, fenced-off paddock, as well as tending a nursery of 360 seedlings on Ravenshoe acreage, but her defence counsel argued it was not a commercial operation.
"It was simply to cater for the significant attrition rate of growing these plants through winter in Ravenshoe, which is one of the coldest areas on the Tableland," solicitor Philip Bovey told the Cairns Supreme Court hearing.
"They were planted in April and would ultimately have come to maturity in July and that would involve growing through the winter months in Ravenshoe; an area of significant frosts."
Mr Bovey said the few plants strong enough to survive would have been enough for the use of Ms McCosh and her partner, claiming commercial quantities would be grown hydroponically or in hothouses.
"They would not grow it outdoors where it would be ravaged by the harsh winter," Mr Bovey said.
Crown prosecutor Michael Connolly said the crop, found during a police search of the Gold Coast Rd property on April 29 last year, was made up of rows of well-tended 25cm plants, surrounded by hay.
The 6cm seedlings were found in five styrofoam boxes on a nearby table.
"There are obviously a large number of plants although they werent fully grown," Mr Connolly said.
"There are concerns also that there was a nursery there the site itself had a level of preparation that was indicative that a long-term production was intended.
"It indicates something more than a mere passing interest in cultivation."
Mr Bovey said his client, who had been with her partner for 17 years and home-schooled their three children, started using marijuana when her partner did to relieve back pain from an old work injury.
The couple then converted an old vegetable garden on their farm to grow dope for their own use.
He said the couples main source of income was a lucrative business breeding rare American bulldog puppies which they sold for $3500 apiece.
Justice Stanley Jones ordered Ms McCosh perform 180 hours of community service over the next 12 months and did not record a conviction.
Due to laryngitis, he reserved the reasons for his sentence until a later time.
hxxp://shuurl.com/R4906
