Jack Nicola: Rye cannabis growing granddad stole $10k of train tools

A dopey Rye thief took the wrong track by nicking $10k of power tools when he was working on the level crossing removal project.

A dope grower was found with $10,000 of power tools he had stolen from the level crossing railway project.

Drug cops who busted a grandfather cultivating cannabis in his back garden got a lot more than they bargained for when they went inside his house, a court has heard.

They uncovered a smorgasbord of stolen power tools worth more than $10,000 that the labourer had nicked from the level crossing projects he had been working on.

Jack Nicola pleaded guilty to cultivation of drugs and theft charges at the Frankston Magistrates’ Court on Monday.

The court heard the 65-year-old grandfather of two was targeted by police after a tip-off he was growing marijuana in his Rye back yard.

When they raided his property in February last year, they did indeed discover 11 cannabis plants in the garden.

They were mature and being grown hydroponically, with fertiliser stored in his nearby shed.

Officers then continued their search inside the house and found a range of high-end power tools laid out on the floor.

Some of them had unique engravings linking them to the Level Crossing Removal Project, which Nicola had been working on in recent months.

When asked why he had so many tools — valued in excess of $10,000 — he appeared nervous and anxious, and couldn’t provide any receipts.

He said he didn’t know what the engravings stood for and said the tools were “second-hand” ones he owned.

He admitted growing the cannabis plants, saying the marijuana was being cultivated for personal use.

His defence lawyer said Nicola had taken the tools home to work on his house and “he had kept them longer than he should have”.

He said this cannabis cultivation was the first time his client had grown it, and the product was going to be smoked by himself to help him deal with stress from his divorce.

He said once his level crossing bosses found out about the theft he was sacked on the spot and he was now working as a painter.

Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge said stealing from where he worked was a bad breach of trust.

“This was theft from an employer, where he should not have stolen from a public-owned authority,” Mr Lethbridge said.

“There is a good deal of theft and dishonesty in government projects.

“And you rightly lost your job.”

Nicola was convicted and fined a total of $2500.