Man suffering from cancer facing jail after being convicted of growing thousands of dollars’ worth of drugs

A MAN suffering from cancer is facing jail after being convicted of growing thousands of dollars’ worth of drugs despite claiming the substances were for pain relief.

Darryl Colin Horne faces sentencing later this month. Picture. Greg Higgs

A MAN suffering from cancer is facing jail after being convicted of growing thousands of dollars’ worth of drugs despite claiming the substances were for pain relief.

Darryl Colin Horne, 56, was found with several marijuana plants and dried cannabis worth up to $30,000 in his Salisbury house in April 2013, the District Court was told.

While prosecutors accused him of preparing the almost 6kg of drugs for sale, the father of one insisted it was used instead for “medicinal” purposes.

Horne, who has leukaemia, told a jury that he cooked, smoked, drank and consumed drug oil daily, estimating that he used at least an ounce of cannabis daily.

He used the drug as a “beautiful” spice, telling the court: “It is better than oregano”.

Claiming he never got high from the drugs despite smoking 40 joints and bongs a day, he said he used it as pain relief, particularly in the wake of a major car crash.

He claimed that he had grown vegetables in his backyard and the drugs for his own use. He said that after a few years trying, he had been left stunned when the crops “berserk”.

After four hours and 10 minutes of deliberations, on Wednesday the jury convicted him of one count each of cultivating a control plant for sale and another of trafficking a controlled drug.

He was acquitted of the more serious charge of trafficking a large commercial for sale.

After the verdicts Judge Geraldine Davison said the jury’s verdict suggested that “given this bumper crop”, he thought it was possible “to make a bit of money out of it”.

She granted Horne bail to a new address in Paralowie, in Adelaide’s north. He will face sentencing submissions in late August.