Shop boss guilty of selling dope gear

The manager's case is the first to come to court since the Switched on Gardener shops were raided. Photo / APN

The manager of a branch of a nationwide gardening supplies chain was yesterday found guilty of supplying equipment he knew was to be used for growing cannabis.

A jury of eight women and three men reached the verdict after deliberating for about seven hours at the end of a three-day trial in the Whangarei District Court.

Judge Keith de Ridder remanded Ian Robert Kerr, manager of the Switched On Gardener store in Whangarei, on bail to August 25 for sentencing.

Kerr, 51, was acquitted on three other charges - one of supplying equipment and two of supplying material to grow cannabis.

His partner, Catherine Anne Collins, 44, who also works in the store, was acquitted on two charges - one of supplying equipment and the other of supplying material to grow cannabis.

The pair were the first to be tried after a police operation in April, when they and staff at 15 other Switched On Gardener stores around the country were among more than 250 people arrested in raids on businesses and private homes.

More than 35 businesses, including all 16 Switched On Gardener branches, were targeted.

The raids, part of what the police dubbed Operation Lime, were the result of two years of undercover work.

It targeted businesses and individuals allegedly responsible for the commercial sale of equipment used in the growing of cannabis.

The jury returned a 10-1 verdict of acquittal for Kerr on a charge of supplying material to grow cannabis.

Verdicts on the other charges were unanimous.

The charge on which Kerr was convicted related to the August 2009 sale to an undercover policeman of $809 of equipment, including a carbon filter and lamp, "knowing it was to be used for the commission of an offence against the Misuse of Drugs Act".

Neither lawyer Roger Bowden, representing Collins, nor Kerr, who represented himself, called any evidence at the trial.

Earlier, in her opening address to the jury, Crown prosecutor Alice Hyndman said three undercover police assumed the names Billy, Ronnie and Russ and visited Switched On Gardener premises on different occasions with covert recording devices.

Where necessary, they bought equipment used to manufacture cannabis and recorded conversations they had with the couple.

The undercover officer known as Billy took the witness stand and the recordings he made were played.

He said he went to Switched On Gardener on January 29, 2009 and told Kerr he'd been given a cannabis growing kit but needed help setting it up.

He said Kerr gave him tips on male and female cannabis plants, the value of plants, lights, carbon filters and the type of equipment needed to grow drugs.

Ms Hyndman told the court that officer "Ronnie" also bought items for growing cannabis and sought tips on its cultivation.

She said "Russ" bought $809 of goods from Collins and returned six months later to buy a lamp.

The couple's Whangarei home was searched and police found a growers' handbook, and pipes and papers for smoking cannabis.

Police alleged that many employees sold drugs, cannabis plants and growing equipment to undercover police.

THE VERDICTS

Guilty: Ian Kerr, 51, manager of Switched On Gardener, Whangerei, of supplying equipment to grow cannabis. Acquitted on three other charges.

Not guilty: Catherine Collins, 44, store worker and partner of Kerr, of similar charges.

- APN