Lalor dad Dwayne Sharp jailed for growing cannabis in converted milk bar

A bonghead dole-bludging dad ran a “highly sophisticated” cannabis growing racket under the cover of an old Lalor milk bar.

Dwayne Sharp was busted running a cannabis racket in a converted Lalor milk bar. Generic/unrelated image.

A dad was caught growing a huge cannabis crop in a former Lalor milk bar, harbouring more than 112kg of the drug.

Dwayne Sharp, 47, was last month sentenced in the County Court to a minimum of two years’ jail after pleading guilty to cultivating a commercial quantity of cannabis.

Sharp was operating a highly sophisticated growhouse in the two subdivided apartments at 54 Huskisson Ave, Lalor, when police carried out a raid on August 22 last year.

Sharp was living in one apartment, where police found a heap of fertiliser being stored in the kitchen.

Sharp then revealed to police a large hole behind a cabinet in the hallway, which he was using to access the second apartment, where 120 cannabis plants were growing.

The apartment was housing a complex hydroponic set up between four rooms, including 53 heat lamps, a timing device and an electrical bypass.

The court heard Sharp had stolen $19,735.96 of electricity between April and August 2020 to heat the plants for 12 hours daily.

A fifth room was being used as a drying room, where cannabis buds were found across drying racks and suspended from the walls.

A total of 112.03kg of cannabis was found — almost 4.5 times the legal threshold for a commercial quantity.

Sharp told police he was helping look after the plants for a man he met when they were both driving forklifts at Coles Distribution Centre years earlier.

But he said he didn’t know the man’s full name and further claimed he only watered the plants two or three times a week, while he let in three other men who looked after the crop.

The court heard there was no evidence of any other offenders and it was found Sharp, a daily cannabis user of 25 years, had repeatedly lied to police.

His landlord claimed Sharp was formerly a customer at the milk bar the landlord used to run out of the building, and that Sharp had been inquiring about renting the property months before he actually moved in.

Sharp, a former powder coater and painter, was on Centrelink benefits at the time of the crime.

Judge Frances Hogan said she could not be sure if Sharp was the only offender or not.

It was heard Sharp had a history of driving offences and unlawful assaults, and had grown up in Preston as part of a close family.

Judge Hogan said the serious crime warranted only prison time.

“Had police not executed the search warrant on 22 August 2020, there was a real risk that this commercial quantity of 112 kilograms of cannabis would find its way to drug users,” she said.

Judge Hogan noted the benefit of Sharp’s plea and that Sharp’s close and loving relationship with his 11-year-old daughter would be affected by the COVID-19 restrictions imposed on the prison system.

Sharp was jailed for a maximum of three and a half years.

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