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A Launceston Supreme Court jury took only 50 minutes yesterday to find a Mowbray man guilty of growing marijuana in a sophisticated underground operation.
Wayne Leslie Kelb, 57, of Pershing St, said he had grown the marijuana crop in buried shipping containers at a Frankford sawmill in order to fund a hip operation.
Kelb grew several crops of marijuana in three containers between February 2002 and February 2004, making nearly $13,000.
Crown prosecutor Lang Goodsell said the containers had been buried beneath a sawdust pit and had sophisticated ventilation ducts and electricity running to them.
They were found by police in a raid on the sawmill in February.
Det-Const. Glen Evans, of Northern Drug Investigation Services, said the largest of the three containers had been built on site and was 13m long and 2.4m wide.
In a police interview played to the court, Kelb said he had only made about $11,300, which just covered the cost of building the containers and growing the plants. "I wish I didn't get involved with it because I didn't make any money and still haven't had my hip done," he said on the video.
Kelb said he had grown the crop under duress from a third party.
He sat in the dock with his cane and shook his head as the seven-woman, five-man jury delivered its unanimous verdict.
Defence lawyer James Kitto will offer a plea of mitigation today.
Justice Ewan Crawford remanded Kelb in custody to appear for sentence at 2.15pm.
the*Examiner
By Mark Baker
Wednesday, 15 September
https://www.examiner.com.au/story.asp?id=251392
Wayne Leslie Kelb, 57, of Pershing St, said he had grown the marijuana crop in buried shipping containers at a Frankford sawmill in order to fund a hip operation.
Kelb grew several crops of marijuana in three containers between February 2002 and February 2004, making nearly $13,000.
Crown prosecutor Lang Goodsell said the containers had been buried beneath a sawdust pit and had sophisticated ventilation ducts and electricity running to them.
They were found by police in a raid on the sawmill in February.
Det-Const. Glen Evans, of Northern Drug Investigation Services, said the largest of the three containers had been built on site and was 13m long and 2.4m wide.
In a police interview played to the court, Kelb said he had only made about $11,300, which just covered the cost of building the containers and growing the plants. "I wish I didn't get involved with it because I didn't make any money and still haven't had my hip done," he said on the video.
Kelb said he had grown the crop under duress from a third party.
He sat in the dock with his cane and shook his head as the seven-woman, five-man jury delivered its unanimous verdict.
Defence lawyer James Kitto will offer a plea of mitigation today.
Justice Ewan Crawford remanded Kelb in custody to appear for sentence at 2.15pm.
the*Examiner
By Mark Baker
Wednesday, 15 September
https://www.examiner.com.au/story.asp?id=251392
