‘Tainted property’ caravan to stay with Tassie surfer and convicted drug trafficker in financial strife

A surfer in financial strife who spotted a cannabis crop and pinched bunches worth nearly $300K, stuffing it in his caravan, has been granted a reprieve by the courts. What a judge decided>

A Falmouth man will keep a $63,000 caravan that he stashed almost $300,000 worth of cannabis in. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Naomi Jellicoe

A man who was convicted of drug trafficking after stuffing his caravan full of cannabis has been granted a reprieve by the courts, with the caravan not to be seized as “tainted property”.

In May this year, Shane Michael Hodge was sentenced in the Supreme Court of Tasmania to a suspended 15-month jail term after pleading guilty to trafficking in a controlled substance.

The 58-year-old Falmouth man had been surfing on the east coast when he spotted “human activity” on the shore, returning later to find crops of cannabis – keeping an eye as it grew before stealing bunches at harvest time.

Hodge then hid the haul – some 14kg worth up to $290,000 – in a covered-up caravan he kept on a friend’s property.

The cannabis was “carefully sealed” in 10 packages and hidden under a bunk bed in a compartment that was covered with a plywood panel, secured with metal brackets, lined with polystyrene, and sealed with a combination of silicone and wooden beading.

Since Hodge’s sentencing, the Director of Public Prosecutions applied for an order for the caravan to be seized and forfeited to the state.

But in a newly-published judgment, the Supreme Court of Tasmania – noting Hodge’s financial position was already poor and that he was in serious debt – ruled that seizing the caravan would compound his hardship.

Justice Robert Pearce found Hodge’s initial motivation was financial, with an “unformed plan” to “sell the cannabis for profit”, but his plans soon “evaporated” once he came to realise he had no real idea how to go about selling it.

Justice Pearce said the unemployed renderer, who was struggling to secure work, bought the caravan back in 2017 for just under $63,000.

He said when police arrived at his home over an unrelated matter, Hodge volunteered the existence and location of the cannabis in circumstances in which it was highly unlikely they would have otherwise found it.

Justice Pearce declined to make a forfeiture order, saying Hodge received no financial benefit from his crime, and that losing his caravan would be a “disproportionate response to the nature and gravity of his offence”.

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Originally published as ‘Tainted property’ caravan to stay with Tassie surfer and convicted drug trafficker in financial strife