Thien Nguyen: Chevrolet Ave, Shepparton ‘commercial’ cannabis crop house charges to go before jury
A 30-year-old accused of growing and selling a commercial quantity of cannabis plants in a Shepparton home will fight the charges.
Goulburn Valley
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A man arrested after allegedly growing a commercial amount of cannabis in a Shepparton home will fight the charges before a jury.
Thien Nguyen, 30, pleaded not guilty to charges including cultivating and trafficking a commercial quantity of cannabis and stealing electricity.
The charges against Andy Du, who was also arrested in relation to the matter, were dropped moments before Wednesday’s hearing.
The Shepparton Magistrates’ Court heard police allegedly discovered eight rooms of a Chevrolet Ave house containing rows of cannabis plants on May 6.
The accused was then arrested travelling in dark coloured Toyota Kluger through the Shepparton CBD after a witness allegedly contacted police saying she had seen the car at the residence a couple of times.
But when cross-examined, the witness could not say with certainty whether it was the same car she saw at the Chevrolet Ave as she could not recall the number plate.
Senior Constable Adam Ashley told the court the accused’s fingerprints were allegedly located on a bowl in the pantry, a drink bottle, cigarette butts, a shower screen, disposable gloves and a fertiliser bottle found at the home.
However, barrister John Desmond said while there was a forensic link to one of the rooms containing cannabis, there was no evidence linking his client to the rooms containing the “large-scale” quantity of plants.
He also said the evidence did not indicate when or how often Nguyen allegedly attended the home, while some fingerprint links were significantly stronger than others.
“You can’t say when the DNA or fingerprints were deposited … on only one occasion or on different days,” Mr Desmond said.
Sen Constable Ashley conceded there was nothing in the evidence suggesting Nguyen was involved in the set-up of the crops.
Magistrate Mary-Anne MacCallum said there was enough evidence for the case to go before a jury in the Shepparton County Court, with the initial hearing set for early February.
Nguyen has been in custody since May.
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