DOPE SOLD 'TO VISIT DAUGHTER'

A Tauranga man who told a judge he sold cannabis for petrol money to visit
his seriously ill stepdaughter has escaped a jail sentence.

Edward Anderson, aged 44, was given a suspended sentence of eight months
when he appeared in the Tauranga District Court this week after pleading
guilty to cultivating cannabis and possessing it for sale.

The court was told he used the money to visit his 22-year-old stepdaughter,
Sarita Gates, who is in Waikato Hospital receiving dialysis treatment. She
has no kidneys and her family say she has taken a turn for the worse.

Yesterday, Angela Gates, Sarita's sister, said the closeknit family were
proud of Mr Anderson and appreciated what he had done to help them all
spend precious time with their "baby."

They travel from their Welcome Bay home to Hamilton three days a week to
support Sarita while she undergoes treatment.

"I'd do the same, too. We all know it's bad, but that's the only way to get
money to get you places."

Mr Anderson, a former member of Black Power, was unemployed when he was
arrested in November after police found 20 potted cannabis seedlings and 18
"tinnies" (cannabis wrapped in tinfoil) in his home. He had since found a
job as a tractor driver but said it did not cover the $150 weekly petrol
bill for the hospital visits.

Angela Gates said her stepfather had left the gang about five years ago and
had made a genuine effort to turn his life around.

He was a good father and had a special bond with Sarita, a religious woman
who loved to sing.

The family were taking it in turns to visit her in Hamilton and pray for a
miracle.

"She's so little, it's just like hugging a little skeleton. You can see
she's hiding all her pain. She's a strong girl but she's had enough."

Sarita lost her kidneys through blood poisoning at the age of 4. Her
mother, Charmaine, donated a kidney but it was rejected.

Judge Peter Rollo suspended Anderson's sentence for 12 months, and ordered
six weeks of periodic detention.