Marijuana Defence Fails To Impress

[Oz]

A pigeon fancier, who claimed he grew more than 220 cannabis plants simply to feed the hemp seeds to his birds, could not be believed, a judge said yesterday.

 

David Wallace Burgess, 55, of Devon Meadows, was jailed for at least 12 months after County Court judge Elizabeth Curtain refused to accept the dope crop, valued at more than $500,000, was merely to increase the lustre of his prize pigeons' coats.

 

"It is incredulous to me that a person would be prepared to grow in the vicinity of 227 cannabis plants... in order to produce an uncertain or at least unpredictable quantity of hemp seed to feed to 40 birds, knowing that to do so was illegal and knowing also that there were legally available alternative foods," Judge Curtain said.

 

Burgess, a builder who has raced pigeons since 1985, pleaded guilty to one count of cultivating cannabis in a commercial quantity. He said he fed hemp seeds daily to 40 of his 900 pigeons, for their supreme health and the quality of their coats.

 

The cannabis was found in March last year after a police helicopter flew over a Worthing Road property in Devon Meadows, near Cranbourne, where Burgess then lived.

 

More than 220 plants growing at the rear of a shed, in a pigeon loft and in a cellar were seized.

 

Judge Curtain said she accepted that more than 25 years ago hemp seeds were part of the seed mix fed to pigeons. But she said no seeds were found on Burgess' cannabis plants, nor were any male plants found, which are needed to pollinate female plants to produce seeds.

 

She sentenced Burgess to three years' jail, two of which were suspended.

 

Glenda Joy Balcke, 53, and her son Trevor Richard Balcke, 29, who own the Worthing Road property, were each sentenced to three months' jail, wholly suspended for 12 months.

 

Judge Curtain said the pair, who pleaded guilty to one count each of cultivating cannabis, knew the crop was grown on the property, although it was not suggested they were actively involved.

 

By Jewel Topsfield

Date: 08/05/04

Source: The Age

Copyright: 2004. The Age Company Ltd.