A man from Australia is accused of growing marijuana, after he gave himself away in an unusual way.
A resident of Tennant Creek, 61-year-old William Pointon, called the police when he noticed that one of the marijuana bushes he was growing was missing. Upon arrival, the police found about 70 plants, some of them reached 1.5 meters in height. This was more than enough to take Poynton into custody on charges of growing marijuana for sale. The man pleaded guilty.
In court, Poynton’s lawyer Noah Redmond admitted that he, his client, knew about the illegality of his actions. The reason why he called the police, realizing that he was giving himself away, was the principle of a man-Poynton suspected that his bush was stolen by young people, and he was categorically against the use of marijuana by minors.
«The fact that he called the police on himself for growing cannabis is a very important factor,» Redmond said. «Young people tried to steal his cannabis, and he believed that children were not capable of making an informed decision whether to smoke cannabis or not, so he called the police to prevent them from accessing it.»
The lawyer explained that Poynton did not sell marijuana, but was engaged in barter, receiving food, goods and physical assistance in return.
Judge Peter Barr paid tribute to Poynton for turning himself in to the police on his own, but Prosecutor Glen Dooley stressed that the defendant himself admitted his guilt.
«Pointon participated in a voluntary interview in which he fully admitted to cultivating plants and growing cannabis for about 40 years,» he said.
Pointon will be sentenced at the end of the week.
