Commercial drug dealer Samuel Hayes sentenced for cannabis grow house at Paralowie

A father grew cannabis from his empty home in a desperate bid to save his failing business – falling for advice from criminals telling him how easy it was.

A butcher caught with kilos of marijuana said he was foolishly guided by criminals who told him how easy it was to set up a grow room.

Samuel Rhys Hayes, 33, narrowly dodged jail after he turned to crime in a last-ditch effort to keep his business afloat.

During sentencing, the District Court heard police searched Hayes’ Paralowie home on May 19, 2021.

“The house was set up as a grow house and no-one lived there,” Judge Michael Burnett said.

Police located 16 marijuana plants and 10 seedlings growing across two rooms, as well as prescribed equipment.

Samuel Hayes was handed a suspended sentence for cultivating the commercial cannabis crop. Photo: Facebook

The former butcher has now set up a tree removal business. Photo: Facebook

In the third bedroom, police located 7.3kg of marijuana drying on racks.

Hayes told police he was solely responsible for cultivating the crop but he was storing the dried marijuana for a friend in return for $1000.

The Andrews Farm father pleaded guilty to multiple offences, including cultivating a commercial quantity of controlled plants and commercial drug trafficking.

The court heard Hayes’ butcher business – which he had been operating for five years – began suffering from financial difficulties at the time of the offending.

“Whilst you worked for a previous employer, prisoners from Yatala also worked there on day release,” Judge Burnett said.

“They told you how easy it was to set up a grow room.

“You considered that this was the only way to keep your business afloat and pay your employees.”

The court heard Hayes, who was born in Kingston South East, had since opened a new business involving tree and stump removal.

The court heard Hayes was remorseful for his actions and understood the consequences of his offending on his family, who would not be able to cope if he was jailed.

Judge Burnett sentenced Hayes to three years and one month in jail, with a non-parole period of 19 months.

“You were motivated by profit even though I accept that you were using the money to keep your business afloat and pay your employees the wages rather than to lead an extravagant lifestyle,” he said.

“The amount of cannabis that was being cultivated at the property was significant.

“The profit was substantial.”

Due to Hayes’ good rehabilitation prospects and family circumstances, the sentence was suspended on a $500, three-year good-behaviour bond.