Jail for money-making dope grower

A Capel man who was “making money” out of growing cannabis in his backyard has been jailed for 12 months.

Police raided Vivian Charles Ian William Pell’s Tucker Street home on February 1 when they discovered 18 cannabis plants, nearly 3kg of cannabis material, 1000 cannabis seeds, clip seal bags, electronic scales, smoking implements and $965 in cash.

The plants were irrigated and liquid fertiliser and nutrients were also located suggesting the 33-year-old “clearly knew what he was doing”, according to State prosecutor Jarrad Goold.

Pell was sentenced in Bunbury District Court on Monday when he pleaded guilty to cultivating a prohibited plant with intent to sell or supply and possessing a prohibited drug with intent to sell or supply.

The court was told police had downloaded information from Pell’s phone and found several messages relating to the sale of drugs.

While Pell initially admitted the drugs were for his personal use, defence lawyer Michael Devlin conceded Pell was “caught red-handed” and conceded he was also benefiting financially “within the family circle”.

Mr Goold argued that it was difficult to sustain that Pell was just dealing to family members and said a pre-sentence report showed his cannabis sales “enabled him to supplement his finances”.

Mr Goold said there were three reasons Pell should be punished by an immediate jail term — quantity, the element of sophistication, and profit.

Mr Devlin said there was a “cocktail of features” in Pell’s background, including depression and anxiety, that led him to being a heavy user of cannabis over a lengthy period of time.

Judge John Staude said it appeared Pell had “done a lot” in recent years to overcome his addiction to more serious drugs, but the offending was so serious that only imprisonment was appropriate.

Pell was sentenced to 12 months jail on both charges, to be served concurrently and he was made eligible for parole after six months.