LAW COOKS UP A NOVEL RECIPE

On a wintry Yarra Ranges hillside yesterday morning, the criminal justice
system made a housecall.

In what is believed to be a legal first, the parties in a court matter
gathered around a kitchen table to conduct a case.

The Deputy Chief Magistrate, Mr Brian Barrow, who drove from Melbourne to
preside over the committal hearing, walked up a muddy driveway to join two
detectives and a barrister in Mr Jack Harding's Seville home.

Mr Harding, 61, who is charged with trafficking, cultivating and possessing
marijuana, was too ill with lung disease to travel to the Melbourne
Magistrates Court.

Mr Barrow explained to Mr Harding, sitting across the table and breathing
with the aid of an oxygen supply, that the hearing was formal while police
tendered a copy of the brief of evidence against him. It alleged police
found an underground hydroponic marijuana crop in a specially constructed
cellar at the Lanning Cresent house on 3 September 1996. Another crop was
found at the rear of a double garage and large amounts of marijuana were
found drying in front of heaters in the kitchen.

Mr James Conquest, for Mr Harding, said Mr Harding had instructed him to
plead not guilty to all charges.

He said that given Mr Harding's poor health, his fitness to plead was going
to be raised and properly examined before the trial. Mr Barrow said he had
read the medical reports and he would contact the Office of Public
Prosecutions about the matter.

He said he hoped the hearing had not been too stressful for Mr Harding, who
replied: ""It was the only way it was going to happen.''

Mr Barrow formally committed Mr Harding to stand trial at the County Court
and granted him bail for arraignment on 25 November.

Mr Barrow patted one of Mr Harding's three dogs, a black poodle named
Tootsie, while the bail papers were signed and then he left.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)