KEY POINTS:
Auckland fashion designer Jason Crawford has been convicted of growing and supplying cannabis in what police said was a huge and sophisticated operation.
He was also found guilty on charges of receiving stolen goods which had been found at another Auckland premises.
Crawford was behind the fashion knitwear
label Insidious Fix, which has wound up since his arrest two years ago.
His parents, Tony and Carol Crawford, were in court throughout the two-week trial and were left reeling at the verdict.
"We're devastated," said Mr Crawford.
The past two years had been hell and their son had lost everything, including his business and his relationship, they said.
Mrs Crawford said the family loved him and would continue to support him.
The jury had to decide whether to believe police who alleged Crawford was a principal in the cannabis-growing operation, or whether to believe his co-accused, Frances Kitson, who took the stand as a witness for the defence earlier in the week.
Kitson had told the court the cannabis and the stolen goods were all his and that Crawford had nothing to do with it. The jury did not believe him.
Kitson, a prisoner at Paremoremo in Auckland, was jointly accused with Crawford of growing and supplying cannabis and had already admitted those charges. He was not charged with receiving stolen goods found at another of Crawford's leased properties but told the court he had swapped "herb" for goods which may have been stolen.
The court heard that Kitson had sub-leased parts of Crawford's factory in Penrose and sub-leased part of another property in Onehunga.
He had set up a large-scale cannabis growing operation which he said he did on his own.
When told the Crown alleged he grew the cannabis with Crawford, he said the Crown was wrong.
"Jason was never there when I was growing the cannabis, it's all mine."
When told the Crown alleged that most, if not all, the property at Burrett Ave in Onehunga was stolen, he said it probably was.
"I swapped a bit of herb for it so didn't ask any questions where it came from."
Asked about a jetski and what it had cost, he said: "The jetski ... most probably four ounces of dope."
And asked what he thought about the allegation that Crawford had received those items, he said, "he didn't receive any of them. They're all mine".
But the jury believed the Crown's case.
Crown prosecutor Bruce Northwood said police believed the sub-lease documents were fake and that the men had worked the cannabis operation together.
Crawford was remanded in custody for sentencing on February 1.
