Jack Swiatek pleads guilty to cultivating more than 60 cannabis plants at home
Tick book, machete, 61 cannabis pants: How cops took down Hampton Park pothead.
South East
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A man from the southeastern suburbs with a 20-year addiction to marijuana has been busted with more than 60 cannabis plants in his home.
Hampton Park man Jack Swiatek, 44, pleaded guilty to cultivating cannabis and possessing a machete without an exemption at Dandenong Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.
Police first noticed the significant amount of cannabis at the home when they arrived to arrest Swiatek for an outstanding complaint and warrant in April, seeing dried plants hanging from the ceiling, plants growing in the backyard and a large plastic tub filled with dried cannabis buds.
A search warrant was executed the next day with police seizing 61 cannabis plants, a large quantity of loose cannabis, a tick book and a machete with a black sheath.
He was arrested and remanded in custody.
The court heard Swiatek has had a 20-year association with the drug and had a job in the mines in Queensland lined up when he was released.
Magistrate John O’Callaghan told Swiatek the “police had been fair” to him and that his employment in the mines would be at risk if he did not clean up his act.
“The real issue starts when you get out – that’s the difficult part,” he said.
“How do you get off the drugs that have been a long problem in your life?
“You can’t take drugs if you’re going to work in the mines. They’ll test you and you’ll lose your employment and then who knows what happens then”.
Swiatek was sentenced to 43 days’ imprisonment as time served.
