Candice Murray-Feuerring pleads guilty to cannabis cultivation

Police found 49 cannabis plants and a hydroponic set up when they raided the rural home of a Geelong council officer. Her lawyer argued it was used to self-medicate.

Candice Murray-Feurring. Picture: LinkedIn

A former communications and engagement officer at the City of Greater Geelong was found to be growing more than 50kg of cannabis when police raided her Teesdale home, a court has heard.

Candice Murray-Feuerring, 43, appeared in the County Court at Geelong on Thursday and pleaded guilty to a single charge of cultivating a commercial quantity of cannabis between February 7 and March 7, 2024.

Crown prosecutor Nicholas Batten said when police raided Murray-Feuerring’s Teesdale home on March 7 last year, they found 49 plants of varying stages of maturity and seized a total haul of 51.31kg of cannabis.

Police photograph of cannabis found at Candice Murray-Feuerring's Teesdale home on March 7, 2024. Picture: County Court of Victoria

The cannabis was found in the garden shed, in which a hydroponic set-up had been established, and in the house, garage, and greenhouse.

Murray-Feuerring, who was supported in court by her mother and a family friend, was arrested and interviewed at Bannockburn police station, where she told officers the cannabis was for “personal use”.

She said she “grew it and cared for it and the reason there was so much to make concentrated oils, that’s what people use to cure cancer and treat children with epilepsy”.

The mother-of-four has no criminal history and pleaded guilty in July 2024, at what the prosecution accepted was the earliest opportunity.

It’s a charge that generally leads to jail, unless Murray-Feuerring can prove her compelling circumstances that are rare and exceptional enough to justify a different sentence.

Murray-Feuerring’s lawyer, Ben Hanley, argued that, through a combination of factors, his client’s case met that threshold.

Police photograph of cannabis found at Candice Murray-Feuerring's Teesdale home on March 7, 2024. Picture: County Court of Victoria

The court heard Murray-Feuerring had a rare genetic disorder that caused her physical pain and she self-medicated with cannabis.

She also used cannabis to ease symptoms of depression, anxiety and insomnia, Mr Hanley said, noting she had an “unstable upbringing” and was introduced to cannabis at age 12.

After being arrested she secured a prescription for medicinal cannabis, however Mr Hanley said she had ceased using that as well, and was focusing on other methods to deal with her pain.

Mr Hanley also submitted she was the primary carer of her four children, aged between 12 and seven months, and now lived in a small, rural community near Maryborough.

Her partner, who was currently overseas, was studying at TAFE in Bendigo.

Mr Hanley noted the weight included the entirety of the plants, rather than just those parts that could be sold, and, he argued, it wasn’t being sold – there was “no evidence of trafficking; no tick book … no text messages”.

The court heard Murray-Feuerring had lost her job at City Hall following her arrest, and the family’s finances were “extremely limited” at present.

Mr Batten said the prosecution did not accept the cannabis was all for personal use, nor did the circumstances meet the threshold preventing a jail term, noting a lack of oil found by police; Mr Hanley said all the oil from previous harvests had been used up.

Judge Gerard Mullaly ordered Murray-Feuerring, who remains on bail, be assessed for a community corrections order (CCO) and adjourned the matter to July 29.

Originally published as Candice Murray-Feuerring pleads guilty to cannabis cultivation