STATE OF TASMANIA v CLINTON ANTHONY WILLIAMS 17 SEPTEMBER 2021
COMMENTS ON PASSING SENTENCE ESTCOURT J
The defendant, Clinton Anthony Williams, aged 35, has pleaded guilty to trafficking in a controlled substance, namely cannabis. I have also agreed, pursuant to s 385A of the Criminal Code to deal with some associated summary matters, including cultivating a controlled plant, possessing a controlled plant or its products, and using a controlled plant or its products.
At the time of offending, the defendant was residing at Bagdad. On 21 February 2020 police conducted a search of the address and found, amongst other things, 71 semi-mature cannabis plants and 200 cannabis cuttings.
The bases of the trafficking charge are:
(a) that the defendant guarded and/or concealed a trafficable quantity of cannabis; and
(b) that he possessed a trafficable quantity of cannabis.
The State asserts that the plants would have reached full maturity, based on their condition when found by police, and that at least a quarter of the cuttings would have matured if cultivated and managed adequately.
The total potential yield from the 71 cannabis plants is approximately 213 ounces.
The State asserts that the defendant intended to keep half of the cannabis for himself, and intended to sell at least some of that.
The State asserts that the defendant guarded and/or concealed the other half of the cannabis for another person, who the defendant believed would sell at least some of his share.
Conservatively, if sold by the ounce, the potential value of 213 ounces of cannabis is approximately $42,600.
The number of cannabis cuttings located indicate an intention to continue cultivating cannabis, the State asserts, and again, conservatively, if a quarter of the cuttings were cultivated and managed adequately, an additional 50 cannabis plants could have grown and they would have yielded approximately 3 ounces per plant, or 150 ounces.
The total potential value of 150 ounces is approximately $30,000.
The total potential aggregate value of the cannabis subject to the trafficking charge is approximately $72,600.
The summary charge of cultivating a controlled plants relates to the 8 or 9 cannabis plants the defendant admits to cultivating prior to receiving the plants the subject to the trafficking charge from his colleague.
The summary charges of possessing a controlled plant or its products and using a controlled plant or its products are based solely on the defendant’s admissions to police.
The defendant has an unimpressive record of prior convictions, mostly for offences of dishonesty, together with some relevant convictions, but for summary minor offences and most of some age. He has no prior convictions for trafficking.
The State seeks a forfeiture order in respect of the cannabis seized, and I make that order.
The defendant lives at Gagebrook with his partner and infant son. He is currently in receipt of a carer’s pension.
He had a history of smoking cannabis since the age of nine, although more recently he says that he uses cannabis for medicinal purposes. I suspect one might give that term a wide meaning in this case.
He would save the seeds from the cannabis that he purchased to smoke and would grow about eight or nine plants outside each year for personal use. On average three to five plants would grow and produce cannabis. However he was, at the time prior to this offending, encouraged and assisted by another person to increase the size of his growing operation in partnership with that other person.
As to the cuttings, the defendant says that he had a bag containing aged cannabis seeds which he threw out into the garden approximately two weeks before the police arrived, and that he did not expect to receive any great amount from these seedlings.
The defendant was homeless at the age of 16, and spent his life living on the streets and “couch surfing”. He found himself frequently offending. He moved to Launceston to get away from his associates in Hobart, but because of his illicit drug use, he found himself mixing with antisocial friends in Launceston.
Some 6 years ago in an effort, apparently unsuccessful, to get away from his drug using friends in Launceston, he moved to Bagdad and he lived there until about 9 months ago. He and his partner now live at Gagebrook, as I have said and the Housing Commission recently renewed their lease for a period of 12 months. The family situation is settled.
As Pearce J recently said, “Courts in this State have made clear that trafficking in cannabis is not to be treated any less seriously than trafficking in other controlled drugs. That is because research and general experience shows that it can have a range of potential adverse effects on mental and physical health. A sentence of imprisonment is required. It is sometimes the case that a term of imprisonment imposed on a person guilty of trafficking but without relevant prior convictions is wholly suspended.”
In my view this is a somewhat borderline case. However the scale of the defendant’s trafficking was not large compared to some cases, the period of the offending was not prolonged, and the level of commerciality, organisation and planning involved was not sophisticated. I am also advised that the defendant has now ceased growing cannabis.
The defendant is convicted of trafficking and of the three summary charges I have enumerated, and I impose a single sentence of 12 months’ imprisonment which sentence is wholly suspended for a period of 2 years on condition that the defendant commits no offence punishable by imprisonment within that time.