David Lewin pleads guilty to cultivating cannabis

A North Shore dad has been given a dressing down from a magistrate after police discovered a cornucopia of cannabis growing at his home.

A North Shore dad given a dressing down after dozens of cannabis plants were found growing in his home.

A magistrate has lambasted a man with a lengthy criminal history who was discovered to be growing cannabis, calling him an “idiot” and “absolutely crazy”.

David Lewin, 50, appeared in Geelong Magistrates Court on Thursday and pleaded guilty to a charge of cultivating cannabis.

A charge of possessing the drug was struck out.

Magistrate Ann McGarvie didn’t mince words when it came to Lewin’s offending.

“You are an idiot,” she told Lewin, noting that because he was subject to a firearm prohibition order, police could turn up at his home “at any time, day or night”.

“That is crazy for you to do anything illegal, especially given your history,” Ms McGarvie said.

“It’s unbelievable, almost every time you’ve come to court there’s been a drug matter included.”

The court heard that on June 18, police officers did just that and turned up at his doorstep to search for firearms.

Instead they found a collection of cannabis plants in a hydroponic set-up.

Lewin wasn’t at home at the time, but officers still searched his house, finding 21 cannabis plants growing in the spare bedroom, along with 19 seedlings.

Another 10 plants were found in his shed, which were seized along with the rest.

A week later, Lewin was arrested and interviewed at Corio police station, where he made full admissions.

He told police it had cost him about $400 to grow the plants, and that they were for personal use following a knee injury.

He’d been “sick of paying for it” the court heard.

Lewin’s lawyer, Kate Saunders, conceded police had found an significant amount of cannabis – an “abundance of plants” – and told the court Lewin was smoking between 2-4g of the drug a day.

Ms Saunders told the court her client had a “very colourful history” with the criminal justice system, but his offending had “eased significantly” in the past few years.

She told the court he had found stability that was absent from his life for decades, including a stable and “incredibly meaningful” job and stable housing.

These factors meant the offending was “of a completely different flavour” than Lewin’s previous court appearances.

Moreover, Ms Saunders said, Lewin had acquired a medicinal marijuana prescription since the raid and offered “nothing but co-operation” to police.

The court heard Lewin had a history of substance abuse, dating back to 1995, but had cut back on everything except the cannabis.

“He’s become, in my submission, a productive member of society,” Ms Saunders said.

“His continued rehabilitation and output in the community he once took from is incredibly beneficial to all.”

Ms McGarvie warned Lewin getting caught again had “massive, massive implications” that might cost him his job and his house, if he couldn’t pay rent.

“If you use illegal cannabis, you’re going to go back down the drain,” she said.

Lewin was convicted and fined $8000 plus costs.

Originally published as David Lewin pleads guilty to cultivating cannabis