Lockyer Valley mum Cindy Bennett busted with illegal emu and grow house

A Lockyer Valley mum fronted Gatton court after police raided her home and charged her with possessing an emu, and a cannabis garden growing in her bedroom.

Pictures: File

A Gatton court was told a Lockyer Valley mum’s Facebook post led to police raiding her Churchable home and charging her with an unusual crime.

Police prosecutor Sergeant Narelle Lowe said officers from the Rural and Stock Crime Squad saw the post on a buy and swap page, where a number of animals, including an emu chick, were listed for sale.

Sergeant Lowe said when police raided Cindy Lee Bennett’s home, the emu was gone, however there was a hydroponic cannabis tent in the woman’s bedroom.

The court heard the two plants were inside a hydroponic tent and under a heat lamp. Picture: File

The court was told Bennett, who had a medicinal cannabis prescription, told officers she constructed the tent to grow vegetables but her brother ended up using it to grow two plants.

Solicitor James Ryan said the woman hoped her brother would come clean, however he had not, so she was prepared to take responsibility for the drugs.

Sergeant Lowe said Bennett’s phone was seized during the raid, and officers found text messages showing she had sold the emu.

Mr Ryan said the soon-to-be 24-year-old suffered from an intellectual disability and she instructed him she bought the native animal off eBay, and did not know it was a crime.

He also apologised on the woman’s behalf for showing up to court in a love-heart patterned bathrobe – she said it was her only warm item of clothing.

She pleaded guilty to possessing drugs and drug related items, as well as the crime against the Nature Conservation Act via the possession of a native animal.

Magistrate Gary Finger noted she had no history of harbouring illegal animals.

She was fined $800 and no conviction was recorded.

Originally published as Lockyer Valley mum Cindy Bennett busted with illegal emu and grow house