By Jessica Anstice
A man who has been jailed after police seized over 140 cannabis plants in his Berwick home claims he was supplying medical marijuana.
Police executed a search warrant at Robin McGillien’s Tennyson Close home on 18 July last year when they discovered an “elaborate hydroponic setup” located at the rear of the house, encompassing six rooms.
In an interview with police, the 63-year-old stated his motivation behind the operation was to “help people with medical issues” and that it was not for profit.
Mr McGillien told police he only sold the weed to cover establishment costs – the rest was used for personal medical purposes with some given away to friends.
During the search, not only did police locate two firecrackers in a filing cabinet drawer, they also discovered that the crop house was powered by an illegal electrical bypass.
With no prior criminal history, Mr McGillien said he paid someone $8000 to install the electrical bypass, resulting in the overall setup costing him between $22,000 and $25,000.
The “sophisticated” setup included carbon filters, exhaust fans, water pumps for irrigation and timing devices.
County Court Judge Irene Lawson said the offending was “well planned and executed”.
“Having regard to the sophisticated nature of the setup and its extent… I consider that this was a commercial operation,” she said.
“Whilst accepting that you were altruistic with respect to your intended distribution of the cannabis oil, nonetheless, there was a degree of commerciality to your venture and this is not the case of spontaneous offending.”
Mr McGillien was sentenced to two years and three months’ prison with a non-parole period of nine months.
In respect to the theft of electricity, Mr McGillien will compensate Energy Australia in excess of $7000.
