The lawyer for a Whangarei retailer facing charges of selling equipment used to cultivate cannabis says the items were available in dozens of stores around Whangarei.
Roger Bowden is representing Catherine Anne Collins, 44, who, together with her partner and colleague Ian Robert Kerr, 51, is on trial in the Whangarei
District Court for selling items used to manufacture the illegal drug from the Switched on Gardener store.
Both were busted by three undercover police officers in 2009 during a two-year operation that started in 2008 and targeted individuals and businesses allegedly selling equipment used for growing cannabis.
Kerr is facing two charges of supplying material for the cultivation of cannabis and two of supplying equipment for the cultivation of cannabis.
He allegedly supplied seed-raising mix, cloning equipment, grow lamps, an electric fan, carbon filter, ducting, a timer and two bottles of liquid fertiliser.
Collins is charged with one count of supplying material for the cultivation of cannabis and one of supplying equipment for the cultivation of cannabis.
She allegedly sold an electric fan, carbon filter, ducting, a timer and two bottles of liquid fertiliser.
In his brief address to the jury, Mr Bowden said his client was just a shop assistant who was not responsible for ordering stock or sharing the profit.
He said the items purchased by the undercover officers were freely available in half a dozen retail outlets throughout Whangarei.
Mr Bowden claimed police danced around the issue.
He said the Crown's proposition that his client knew the items were used to make cannabis just could not be proved.
The Crown is expected to close its case today.
