Redbank Plains man, Christopher Wayne Ketley, faces court for frontyard cannabis stash

An Ipswich judge has questioned whether any more public resources should be wasted on a man with a history of drug and violent offending, who was found to be growing cannabis on his driveway.

A Redbank Plains man with a “complete disregard” for the law has been sentenced for growing cannabis on his driveway.

Christopher Wayne Ketley, 45, appeared in Ipswich Magistrates Court on August 1, 2022 charged with one count of producing a schedule two drug, two counts of possessing dangerous drugs, two counts of unlawfully possessing a relevant substance or thing and one count of possessing a utensil or pipe for use.

He pleaded guilty to the charges.

The court heard police discovered 24 cannabis plants, weighing 274g, at Ketley’s property on October 26, 2021,

The court also heard some of the plants were potted on his driveway and others were in a hydroponic set up.

They further found small quantities of cannabis and methamphetamine on his property, along with 0.1g of iodine, an electric grinder and a heating mantle.

Crown Prosecutor Matthew Hendry said Ketley had a significant criminal history, which included disorderly, dishonesty, property, drug, and violent offending.

He said Ketley had a “complete disregard for orders of the court”, having been previously convicted of more than 30 breaches of court order offences, bail conditions, failures to appear and breaches of suspended sentences.

Ketley was also on parole at the time of these latest offences.

Defence lawyer Remy Kurz said Ketley had longstanding issues with drug addiction and Ketley’s intention had been to produce cannabis oil for pain relief.

Mr Kurz also said Ketley had served pre-sentence custody at Woodford Correctional Facility since his offending and noted the facility had overcrowding issues as Ketley had been sleeping on the floor.

Judge Dennis Lynch noted Ketley already spent a significant period of time in custody and he was “not sure that we should waste any more public resources [on Ketley]”.

“If he hasn’t learned his lesson by this point, the reality is he’ll keep using drugs and he’ll keep going back to jail,“ he said.

For the producing a dangerous drug charge, Ketley was sentenced to six months imprisonment, wholly suspended for 12 months.

He was convicted but not further punished for the other offences.

Judge Lynch further activated Ketley’s suspended sentence of 467 days and declared his pre-sentence custody of 279 days time served, with immediate parole release.

Convictions were recorded.