PENSIONERS BLAME SON, NAIVETY

Elderly pensioners convicted last week of storing 19kg of cannabis in
their home have blamed their own naivety and their drug-dealing son
for their ordeal.

The nightmare had clearly taken its toll on David William Sidney
Davies, 81, and Florence Gladys Davies, 77, who were
uncharacteristically tight-lipped when they emerged from the District
Court in Perth after being sentenced yesterday.

The pair were sentenced to 16 months jail, suspended for two years,
after being convicted of two counts of possessing cannabis with intent
to supply.

Video footage played in court during their trial showed the once
robust war veteran confidently showing drug squad detectives around
his Carlisle house during a police raid in August 2002.

Two years on and one could be fiorgiven for performing a double-take
that it was the same man being wheeled into the prisoner's dock at
Court 51 every day last week.

He had suffered a heart attack in the police lockup during his arrest
and his wife was fearful the ordeal would kill him.

The jury accepted the prosecution case that the Davies had agreed to
store the cannabis above a false celing in their home for their son,
Tyssul, in exchange for $7000 cash.

The fact that a further 300g of the illicit drug was found under the
couple's bed no doubt cast doubts about their claims of ignorance.

But the ordeal is not over. A question mark hangs over the fate of
their house, which could be confiscated under WA's tough seizure laws
if the Director of Public Prosecutions seeks to have them declared
drug traffickers.

Three kilograms of cannabis is enough to attract such a label.

If they are declared traffickers in the next six months, then under
the Criminal Property Confiscation Act, the Davies must forfeit all
their possessions bar their clothes and family portraits.

The tough law introduced in January 2001 was designed to penalise drug
barons by preventing them enjoying the trappings of their
crime-derived wealth.

Mrs Davies said she and her husband were a product of the 1930s whose
frugal lifestyle meant no drinking, smoking or gambling. She said the
money seized during the raid was the result of two years of pinching
pennies from their war pensions for an overseas holiday.

She was still hoping they could get the money back.

"Nobody could be more naive than us. Our generation never come into
contact with drugs," she said.

"We've gone through hard times before but never anything like this."

Mrs Davies admitted it might take a little more time for her to
forgive her son for putting them in the predicament.

"Tyssul has said he's sorry over and over again, but that's just a
word," she said. "We've forgiven him to a certain degree because you
can't live with hate.

"He's realised that he's made a mistake and now he has to live with
it."

Tyssul Davies testified his parents knew nothing about the drugs,
which he stashed while his mother was in hospital.

He served two years and nine months in jail after pleading guilty to
the same drug charge in 2002.