Kelvin Edney was late for dinner last night, but he's got a good excuse - he's in jail.
The 21-year-old was sent to jail yesterday for running a sophisticated hydroponic cannabis growing operation in Tokoroa.
Only his parents, who he lives with, didn't know.
Edney is a clean cut,
well dressed Aucklander who comes from a good family. The university student has never been in trouble with police and was too ashamed to tell his folks he was likely to be jailed.
Judge James Rota said in the Rotorua District Court yesterday that Edney's personal circumstances didn't change the fact he was running a commercial hydroponic cannabis-growing operation.
The judge refused an application for Edney to apply for home detention and jailed him for 15 months.
Edney, who appeared in court alone, had only told his sister about his conviction. As of yesterday, his parents still didn't know.
Edney had smoked cannabis since he was 16 and researched how it was grown by visiting American websites. He decided the cheapest place to set up his operation was in Tokoroa. He then found a rental property that cost him $150 a week.
He bought all the lighting and air conditioning equipment necessary to run the operation, costing about $2300, and would regularly travel to the property to tend to his plants.
Police were called when the landlord found a locked door at the property during an inspection.
Through his lawyer, Katherine Ewen, Edney said the 18 plants found were for his own use.
However, Judge Rota didn't believe that argument and agreed with Crown prosecutor Richard Bird the set up was commercial.
Judge Rota said Edney had to be selling the drug because of the costs involved.
A Community Probation report showed Edney lacked insight into his offending because he described his cannabis growing as a "victimless crime".
"Whether you accept it or not, Parliament accepts that this sort of offending hurts people and there is a groundswell of people who don't believe you [that it's a victimless crime]."
