Mahia man Harry Whaanga said cannabis, synthetics were for own use - but searches found $45,000 in cash

Synthetic drugs were found alongside cannabis in raids on Harry Whaanga's house. Photo / 123RF

Mahia man Harry Whaanga claimed cannabis and synthetic drugs found at his house were for personal use - the $31,760 in a safe with the password “shop” suggested otherwise.

Eight months later, while Whaanga was on bail for the earlier drug find, police came back with another search warrant and found a further $13,848, and ziplock bags and scales – items commonly associated with drug dealing.

The total amount of the drugs seized from Whaanga’s family home, at Opoutama near Mahia, during the two searches comprised 666.1g of cannabis and 471.4g of synthetics.

The amount of money seized in the two raids in January and September 2022 totaled $45,608, all of which has been forfeited to the Crown under the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Whaanga was convicted after a jury trial in the Gisborne District Court last year on four charges – two each of possessing cannabis and possessing synthetics, for the purposes of sale.

His defence was that all of the drugs found in his possession were for his personal use.

He told the jury he was a heavy cannabis user, particularly following a knee injury that incapacitated him for five months.

He said the money came from cash payments for working at an orchard, doing building work, winning at the pokies and selling vehicles he had restored.

The jury rejected his claim the drugs were for his personal use.

The Misuse of Drugs Act says possessing 28g or more of plant material of either cannabis or synthetics is deemed to be for “the purposes of supply”.

Whaanga was initially sentenced to 26 months in prison, but appealed against this sentence.

His counsel, Tiana Epati, said the sentencing judge had not given enough consideration to Whaanga’s drug addiction, and failed to give any discount to reflect the impact of imprisonment on his four children. He was their primary caregiver.

Epati said Whaanga also got no discount for the forfeiture of the money, some of which was cash obtained from sources other than drug-related offending.

Megan Mitchell, for the Crown, said the sentencing judge had been aware that some of the cannabis had been for Whaanga’s personal use, and recognised his addiction with a six-month discount.

She said the issue of Whaanga’s children had not been drawn to the judge’s attention and the Misuse of Drugs Act made it plain that forfeiture is “in addition to any penalty imposed”.

The Court of Appeal said this week an allowance should have been made in Whaanga’s sentencing for the “significant impact” of a jail term on his children.

After he went to jail, they all exhibited behavioural issues and “profound distress”, and his partner had to put aside her studies to become the children’s primary carer.

In two separate decisions, the Court of Appeal reduced Whaanga’s jail term from 26 months to 22 months, and then converted his prison sentence to one of home detention.

Because he had already served five months in prison, the new sentence was for six months of home detention, to be served at an address in Wainuiomata, Lower Hutt.

A condition was imposed to attend an assessment for an alcohol and drug treatment programme.

The appeal court noted Whaanga had not appealed against the forfeiture of the money.

Ric Stevens spent many years working for the former New Zealand Press Association news agency, including as a political reporter at Parliament, before holding senior positions at various daily newspapers. He joined NZME’s Open Justice team in 2022 and is based in Hawke’s Bay. His writing in the crime and justice sphere is informed by four years of front-line experience as a probation officer.