NORTH ALBURY PENSIONER ON CANNABIS BOND

NORTH Albury disability pensioner Ewen Beattie has been put on a bond
for cultivating cannabis.

Earlier this year police cordoned off his house after the discovery of
chemicals.

Beattie drew police attention to himself by allegedly importing
glassware associated with the manufacture of prohibited drugs.

When police raided his Kestrel Street home on May 26, they found a
cannabis plant growing in a bedroom wardrobe and the chemicals.

The chemical find led to the house being evacuated so experts could
inspect them.

Solicitor Andrea MacDonald said in Albury Local Court yesterday that
no action has been taken by police over the chemicals which were
fertilisers.

On July 5, magistrate Tony Murray ordered a pre-sentence report on
Beattie saying it was the third time he had been charged with
cultivating a prohibited plant.

Magistrate Gordon Lerve said yesterday it was low on the scale of
seriousness, convicted Beattie and put him on an 18-month bond with
Probation and Parole Service supervision.

An application was made on May 25 for a search warrant at Beattie's
home.

The following day police from the Albury drug unit along with other
officers raided the house.

Beattie told police he was the only person living at the
house.

Officers sought advice from the state crime command chemical
operations unit after finding chemicals inside the house.

It was during a cursory search that the cannabis plant was found in
Beattie's bedroom.

The house was evacuated on advice from the chemical operations unit so
special investigators could process the scene.

Beattie was arrested and taken to the police station where he met the
custody manager.

A case worker from St Luke's Anglicare attended as a support person
for him.

Beattie declined to be interviewed about cultivating the cannabis
plant