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Source: Photos.com
A cannabis grower who threatened to go on hunger strike if he was jailed has been spared a prison sentence.
Peter Davy was sentenced to six months' home detention for importing cannabis seeds and cultivating cannabis when he appeared in Timaru District Court yesterday.
Davy, who had previous convictions for cultivating cannabis, had made an early admissions to the charges, but he fought a sentence of imprisonment as he was the primary caregiver of his partner, Tracey Perrin, who is severely crippled by multiple sclerosis.
He said he cultivated and took cannabis for his own medicinal use after a drug he was prescribed for a benign tumour on his pituitary gland made him violently ill.
"I'm really happy that I'm not in prison," Davy said. "Tracey needs me; she's been so stressed so I'm pleased she can relax," he said.
He had a number of cannabis-related convictions dating back to 2002, and police discovered 45 plants and about 10,000 seeds at Davy's property in December.
Judge Joanna Maze said it seemed to be accepted that Davy intended to thin the plants back to the best five. A .222 rifle was also found, which he'd said was for hunting.
Davy was convicted and sentenced to one-month concurrent terms of home detention for possessing cannabis, possessing cannabis seeds and unlawfully possessing a firearm.
Crown prosecutor Anne-Marie McRae accepted there was no evidence Davy was running a commercial operation and said the offending did not look sophisticated.
However, Davy's previous offending was an aggravating factor, she said.
Although a pre-sentence report indicated Perrin's needs would not be compromised if Davy were jailed, defence counsel Shannon-Leigh Litt, who argued for home detention, said her emotional needs would not be met.
Litt also said Davy had told her he had learnt from the experience and would never grow cannabis again.
In setting the sentence, Judge Maze said a starting point of 12 months in prison would be justified, with an extra three months for his previous offending.
However, after taking into consideration mitigating factors, she reduced the sentence to nine months, before considering home detention as a sentencing option.
Davy's sentence included standard and special release conditions that he not possess illegal drugs or alcohol, and that he complete a short
rehabilitation programme and a further psychological assessment, and any course as directed by a probation officer.
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