An Australian man is accused of growing marijuana after he exposed himself in an unusual way.
Tennant Creek resident William Poynton, 61, called police when he noticed one of the the marijuana bushes he was growing were missing. Upon arrival, police found about 70 plants, some of them reaching 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 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 had been stolen by young people, and he was categorically against the use of marijuana by minors.
“The fact that he called the police taking responsibility for growing cannabis is a very important factor,” Redmond said. «Young people were trying to steal his cannabis and he believed children were incapable of making an informed decision about whether to smoke cannabis or not, so he called the police to prevent them from accessing it.»
The lawyer explained that Poynton was not a marijuana dealer, but a barter, receiving food, goods and physical assistance in return.
Judge Peter Barr gave Poynton credit for turning himself in to police, but prosecutor Glen Dooley stressed that the defendant had admitted his guilt.
“Pointon participated in a voluntary interview in which he fully admitted to cultivating plants and cultivating cannabis for approximately 40 years,” he said.
Pointon will be sentenced at the end weeks.
