Electricity diverted at meter by Motueka man Geoffrey Brittain in cannabis growing operation

Police found nine mature cannabis plants (not pictured) in a concealed room. Stock Image

When police busted Geoffrey Brittain’s cannabis growing operation he told them it was a shame because the mature and heavily budded plants were “nearly ready”.

The 55-year-old was caught not only growing illicit drugs in what his lawyer said was an “unsophisticated” effort but also trying to get free power in the process.

Now, a judge has convicted and discharged him for possessing cannabis found in his house bus and fined him $1500 for growing it in a shed on the property. He also ordered reparation of $1051 to the power company for the losses incurred, including a callout fee to disconnect the power.

Brittain appeared in the Nelson District Court for today’s sentencing, during which Judge Lawrence Hinton declined to offer much detail.

According to a police summary of facts, Brittain lives in a house bus on rented land in rural Motueka. He operates a vehicle spray painting business in a shed adjacent to the house bus, where he has lived for 20 years.

On March 15 this year a specialist unit of Nelson police, accompanied by a specialist dog unit, searched Brittain’s address and found an area within the shed that appeared to be concealed from other areas of the workshop, with no obvious entrance.

Light could be seen coming from the area and a fan could be heard.

When asked what was in the area, Brittain showed police an entrance to the room, through a door in a cabinet pushed up against a hole in the wall. It led to a small, concealed room.

Once inside, police found nine mature cannabis plants, some over a metre tall. in height and potted in soil.

Police estimated them to be six weeks old, likely having been potted in late January.

Brittain said it was a shame to lose them as they were “nearly ready”.

The area was fitted out with multiple heat lamps, insulation, LED lights with transformers, electrical transformers, charcoal filters and fertiliser.

While police were searching the property, a contractor to provider Genesis Energy was called and confirmed the electricity had been re-routed from the meter.

It showed Brittain had found a way to divert electricity away from the main meter board.

Calculations by Genesis Energy showed Brittain diverted 44.49 kilowatts of electricity a day over 45 days, which resulted in the loss of $467 in revenue to Genesis subsidiary, Frank Energy, plus the technician fee of $1000 it cost to inspect the meter.

While searching Brittain’s house bus, the police also found a plastic bag containing 117.9 grams of dried cannabis bud and plant material, concealed in a bottom drawer beneath a wooden countertop in an empty toilet roll package.

They also found three zip lock bags containing cannabis plant material weighing 18.48 grams on top of a box beneath the same countertop.

Brittain admitted he was the sole grower of the cannabis inside the shed.

Defence lawyer Sam Teppett said the charge of diverting power only warranted a reparation order for the amount of power used, which was less than the $1467 sought because a normal call-out fee to disconnect power was $350.

He said information from the police showed a subcontractor had to be used, for $1000, because no one from power company Genesis Energy was available at the time.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Chris Stringer said the preference was for the full amount of reparation to reflect the loss incurred.

Judge Hinton said in sentencing Brittain that he agreed with the defence on the level of offending.

On the charge of diverting electricity and causing the loss to Genesis Energy and convicted Brittain and ordered him to pay $1051 reparation to Frank Energy.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.