Nicky Van Der Zijden: Bail refused for alleged drug growing
A Tweed Shire man accused of having a “sophisticated” marijuana set up has been refused bail despite a minimal criminal history and offering house arrest. Here’s why.
Police & Courts
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A Numinbah man accused of growing a large marijuana crop has been refused bail despite offering to report to police every day and live under house arrest.
Nicky Van Der Zijden, 38, appeared in Tweed Heads Local Court on Friday, December 17, to face charges of cultivating a prohibited plant and possessing a prohibited drug.
No pleas have been entered.
It is alleged Mr Van Der Zijden was found growing 85 marijuana plants at his Numinbah Rd address on December 16, 2021.
Defence lawyer Lucas Swan applied for bail on Mr Van Der Zijden’s behalf.
Mr Swan told the court his client would be willing to report daily to Murwillumbah police, even twice daily if required, and enter into a 24 hour curfew – essentially placing him on house arrest.
He said Mr Van Der Zijden was willing to abstain from drugs and alcohol with enforcement and surrender any valid passports.
Mr Swan noted there was a similar offence in 2016 where his client was sentenced to an intensive corrections order, but said it was Van Der Zijden’s first time in full time custody, even on remand.
He said his client had been compliant with police and even sustained an injury trying to help police remove the plants from the premises.
However, police prosecutor Sergeant Chris Martin opposed Mr Van Der Zijden’s bail.
Sergeant Martin said it would be difficult to suggest a curfew and house arrest at the location where he allegedly committed the offences would alleviate the concern of further offending.
He said the prosecution had a strong case and given Mr Van Der Zijden’s history, bail would not be appropriate.
Magistrate Geoff Dunlevy noted Mr Van Der Zijden had been compliant on his 18-month intensive corrections order.
However he said the alleged offending involved a “reasonably sophisticated set up” and bared striking similarity to the charges he’d previously been sentenced for.
For those reasons Mr Van Der Zijden’s bail was refused.
He will next be before the court on February 14, 2022.
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