Cannabis grower avoids jail

TIMARU HERALD

RELIEVED: Peter Davy hugs his partner, Tracey Perrin, after he avoided a jail term for cannabis convictions.

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Cannabis grower Peter Davy and his supporters are relieved he has avoided a jail term after he received a sentence of home detention on cannabis-related charges.

Davy, who earlier this year threatened to go on a hunger strike if jailed, was sentenced to six months' home detention for importing cannabis seeds and cultivating cannabis when he appeared before Judge Joanna Maze in the Timaru District Court yesterday.

Davy, who had previous convictions for cultivating cannabis, had made an early admissions to the charges, but he fought a sentence of imprisonment as he was the primary caregiver of his partner, Tracey Perrin, who is severely crippled by multiple sclerosis.

"I'm really happy that I'm not in prison. Tracey needs me; she's been so stressed so I'm pleased she can relax. It's been all about her, really. I feel really bad about what I put her through," Davy said.

Ms Perrin also expressed relief at the result.

"I'm thrilled he's coming home. I'm just so, so happy because if he went to prison then there's no way I'd let them put me in a resthome," she said. "I was praying as hard as I could that he could come home."

Davy said he cultivated and took cannabis for his own medicinal use after a drug he was prescribed for a benign tumour on his pituitary gland made him violently ill.

He had a number of cannabis-related convictions dating back to 2002, and police discovered 45 plants and about 10,000 seeds at Davy's property in December.

Judge Maze said it seemed to be accepted that Davy intended to thin the plants back to the best five. A .222 rifle was also found, which he'd said was for hunting.

Davy was convicted and sentenced to one-month concurrent terms of home detention for possessing cannabis, possessing cannabis seeds and unlawfully possessing a firearm.

Crown prosecutor Anne-Marie McRae accepted there was no evidence Davy was running a commercial operation and said the offending did not look sophisticated. However, Davy's previous offending was an aggravating factor, she said.

Although a pre-sentence report indicated Ms Perrin's needs would not be compromised if Davy were jailed, defence counsel Shannon-Leigh Litt, who argued for home detention, said her emotional needs would not be met. Ms Litt also said Davy had told her he had learnt from the experience and would never grow cannabis again.

In setting the sentence, Judge Maze said a starting point of 12 months in prison would be justified, with an extra three months for his previous offending.

However, after taking into consideration mitigating factors, she reduced the sentence to nine months, before considering home detention as a sentencing option.

"There is the question of the impact on your partner. The court, of course, cannot be held ransom to that," she said.

However, it was something to take into account, Judge Maze said. "The real motivation for you lies in your ability to remain with your partner."

Davy's sentence included standard and special release conditions that he not possess illegal drugs or alcohol, and that he complete a short rehabilitation programme and a further psychological assessment, and any course as directed by a probation officer.

Judge Maze warned Davy that if he breached his sentence, he should be in no doubt as to what would happen.

- © Fairfax NZ News