A WOMAN who used stolen electricity to cultivate 31 cannabis plants in a shed in Heathcote has been jailed for four months, with a magistrate calling her “an absolute fool”.
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Trudy Rachael Trice, 45, pleaded guilty in the Bendigo Magistrates’ Court on Thursday to 12 charges, including cultivating a narcotic plant, drug trafficking and obtaining property by deception.
Police raided her Pianta Street residence on September 1, uncovering a hydroponic cannabis crop in two rooms in a shed.
The first room contained 16 mature plants, with a height of 1.5 metres.
The second room had 15 plants of equal height, along with a rubbish bag of dried cannabis.
The rooms also contained 44 heat lamps under a false ceiling, along with filters, fans and other equipment needed for the hydroponic setup.
The total weight of the cannabis found at the property was 87 kilograms.
Trice admitted to growing the plants for two months.
Police also discovered the property had been using stolen power, bypassing the property’s power meter.
The total value of the stolen electricity was $6110.
During a police interview, Trice said she started growing cannabis to provide financial support to her family.
Her defence counsel told the court other people had been involved in setting up the operation, with Trice only providing the shed on her property.
Trice was not involved in setting up the system to steal electricity, as she was in police custody at the time, the court heard.
“People had asked her on several occasions to use the shed, and she refused several times,” the defence counsel said.
She decided to go ahead with the setup when her family situation changed.
“This was not due to greed, it was a mistaken sense that it would help her family,” he said.
Magistrate John Murphy offered Trice a reduced sentence if she disclosed the other people involved in the operation, but Trice refused.
Mr Murphy said it made no sense for Trice to be concerned for her family, while at the same time breaking the law.
“You’re an absolute fool for not doing what’s right for your family, and for society,” he said.
“If she’s so concerned about her family and society, why doesn’t she name the people involved?”
Trice was also charged with driving while suspended and driving an unregistered vehicle on multiple occasions.
She was convicted and sentenced to four months jail, and her licence was disqualified for another six months.
