Hung Tran: Wyndham Vale growhouse found after aggravated burglary
Everyone thought this Wyndham Vale house was as normal as every other in the street. That is, until masked intruders armed with machetes tried to break in, setting off a chain of remarkable events.
North West
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Masked burglars who stormed a Wyndham Vale house armed with machetes accidentally led police to a sophisticated growhouse, a court has heard.
Police discovered almost 29kg of cannabis — 50 plants — growing in a complex hydroponic setup throughout the large house.
Hung Tran fronted the County Court on Thursday, August 27, having pleaded guilty to charges of cultivating cannabis and theft.
The court heard he was in the house on December 10, 2018 when burglars forced their way in brandishing machetes.
Tran then went and reversed his car into the garage before fleeing the property on foot.
Neighbours who witnessed the intrusion called police, leading to the drug discovery.
Police found the 50 cannabis plants between four bedrooms and the living area, growing in a hydroponic system consisting of multiple globes, fans, powerboards and filters.
An electrical bypass had been installed on the power meter and a number of cannabis cuttings were in the boot of Tran’s car.
Police couldn’t find Tran when they then searched his Cairnlea home on January 23, 2019.
He later turned himself into police in March and was bailed.
Tran didn’t give information to police, but at an earlier court appearance for his plea he told the court he had organised for a stranger to establish the growhouse in his wife’s investment property.
Tran said a stranger had approached him in a restaurant and asked if he knew of any houses for rent, telling Tran of the intended scheme.
The court heard Tran’s wife was after a tenant for her newly purchased investment property so Tran arranged the lease.
He said she was unaware of the crophouse the entire time, despite being paid rent in cash.
Tran told the court others set up the growhouse and he maintained it, receiving the caretaking instructions by text, in return for a promise of $5000 once the plants were harvested.
Tran said he had committed the crime because his mum was sick and he needed to pay hospital bills.
But Judge Michael Tinney said he didn’t believe what Tran had told the court, with many claims seeming unrealistic and fictitious.
The court heard the 52-year-old father-of-three had only one run in with the law for a driving matter and had worked as a traffic controller for 16 years.
Considering Tran’s “disastrous upbringing”, in which he fled violence in Vietnam on his own as a child, then experienced homelessness as a teenager in Australia, Judge Tinney said it wouldn’t have been surprising if Tran had “run right off the rails”.
He instead said Tran had very good prospects of rehabilitation, and noted custody would be more onerous for Tran because of his PTSD and COVID-19.
But Judge Tinney said Tran could not avoid jail, as his lawyer had suggested, having committed such a calculated and serious crime.
He sentenced Tran to seven months’ jail followed by a two-and-a-half year community corrections order.
Judge Tinney said he would have ordered four years’ jail with a non parole period of two-and-a-half years but for the plea.
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