Man fined $1800 on cannabis charges

A 59-year-old man who has been up to District Court and back down again on cannabis charges has finally been sentenced to an $1800 fine but this may not be his final court appearance.

Russell Vernon Morgan appeared in Geraldton Magistrate’s Court on Monday for one count of possessing a prohibited drug and one count of cultivating a prohibited plant.

There was some dispute about the total weight of the drugs.

Although police had initially weighed the cannabis in at 2.8kg, it was wet plant matter which included stems, and that weight would not be indicative of the final product.

Morgan had previously instructed the court the cannabis was only for his personal use to deal with chronic pain.

His defence lawyer Kelly Beard said he was willing to do a court order but would be seeking a fine.

Magistrate Donna Webb said it was “an awful lot of cannabis” but the exact weight wouldn’t play a factor in sentencing.

“Let’s just be fair and say he had a lot of weight but we don’t know how much,” she said.

“I will proceed on the basis that it’s simple possession ... how much it weighs is simply an aggravating factor.” Police prosecutor Kathryn Flanagan said the quantity was very large compared to the normal few grams that accompanied the possession charges which often appeared in the Magistrate’s Court.

Because of the quantity, she suggested to the court that even though the charges were for simple possession, imprisonment was still a sentencing option, although there would be reason to suspend that term of imprisonment.

Ms Webb opted for a fine, saying it would have to be large enough to reflect the seriousness of the offending.

However, the sentencing was only handed down on the possession offence, and it was not until Ms Flanagan and Ms Beard alerted Ms Webb to the unsentenced cultivation charge that she realised it was there.

Ms Webb said she did not have any of the paperwork for that charge, but Morgan should go, and if the charge turned up again, they would set up a new court date.

Ms Beard asked if the matter could instead be stood down, because Morgan had been coming to court for quite some time and just wanted his case resolved.

Ms Webb refused.

“I’m very sorry for the inconvenience of someone being charged with such a serious offence but that goes with the territory,” she said.