Bradley Witherden pleads guilty to cannabis cultivation and possession

The father of an AFL star was sprung with a weed crop when police followed a trail of marijuana to a factory, a court has heard.

Bradley Witherden with his son, Alex, in 2016.

The father of an AFL star was sprung with a weed crop when police followed a trail of marijuana to a factory, a court has heard.

Bradley John Witherden, 56, appeared in Geelong Magistrates’ Court on Monday, and pleaded guilty to cultivating a narcotic plant and possession of cannabis.

Witherden is the father of West Coast player Alex Witherden, who was taken by the Brisbane Lions with pick 23 of the 2016 AFL draft.

He played 59 games with the Lions before being traded to West Coast after the 2020 season.

The father-of-three was sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order, including 100 hours of unpaid community work, without conviction.

The court heard that police were called to the scene of a burglary in Norlane just before 8pm on January 28.

Bradley Witherden leaving Geelong Magistrates’ Court.

Officers arrived to find cannabis scattered down the road in a trail that led to a factory.

Witherden had arrived on the scene before police and immediately told police he was growing cannabis in the factory.

The court heard an upstairs room had been converted into hydroponic grow room, with lights, fans and other items necessary to grow cannabis.

Police seized 11 plants from the factory, as well as the cannabis scattered on the road outside, two ziplock bags containing a “brown substance” believed to be cannabis, and a plastic bag containing a green vegetable matter under a leaf chopper.

When interviewed by police, the court heard Witherden made full admissions to growing the plants.

Witherden’s lawyer Tom Edwards told the court Witherden had never appeared before court in his life, but financial pressures on his business had led to him concocting the cannabis scheme.

“The consistent theme through all of this is a financial one,” Mr Edwards said.

The court heard Witherden’s debts were “under the million dollar figure” but were “well into the six figures”.

Mr Edwards said Witherden’s business, of which he is the sole director, was in a healthier place than it had been, and said he had sold a boat to meet some of the debts.

Mr Edwards told the court that Witherden’s was a “one man operation” that was largely “DIY” and he “didn’t know what he was doing entirely”.

Witherden’s research involved following YouTube videos from America, where growing cannabis is legal in some areas, and he bought “second-hand” equipment to “have a go at it”, the court heard.

Mr Edwards said Witherden had not intended to sell the drug to be smoked.

“(He was) not cultivating to sell on the street, his grand plan was extract oil and sell the oils … but he hadn’t even worked out how to do that,” Mr Edwards said, noting the plan “failed in a spectacular way”.

Mr Edwards argued that a conviction would “jeopardise (Witherden’s) entire business”, which currently employed seven workers.

Magistrate Urfa Masood told the court “clearly it’s been a difficult time” for Witherden, that led to an “inexplicable decision”.

The scheme was a “sophisticated operation” that was researched and planned, but was “thwarted” by the burglary, Ms Masood said.

However Ms Masood noted the crime also showed elements of unsophistication, and Witherden had taken full responsibility from the start.

Originally published as Bradley Witherden pleads guilty to cannabis cultivation and possession