'Bird-seed' cannabis grower jailed for 12 years, fined €25,000

A 47-year-old man was yesterday jailed for 12 years and fined €25,000 (Lm10,729.61) after jurors found him guilty of cultivating 110 plants of cannabis and possessing the drug.

It took two hours of deliberation for jurors to find Anthony Seychell of Żejtun unanimously guilty of cultivating cannabis after his admission, during questioning by the prosecution, that the plants were his. He was also found guilty by seven votes to two of possessing the drug. The second charge was absorbed into the first because cultivating would also constitute possession.

In the trial, which started on Monday, Mr Seychell testified that after he had fed his bird seeds, the bird dropped some seeds onto the soil and a cannabis plant grew. He knew it was cannabis after watching a documentary on television.

Counsel to the Republic Nadine Sant, prosecuting, told jurors that Mr Seychell had a workshop in his house where he would cultivate cannabis and dry out the leaves.

Mr Seychell said in court he would smoke anywhere up to five or six reefers a day to relieve himself of severe back pain.

Mr Justice Joseph Galea Debono, presiding over the case, heard Dr Sant say that Mr Seychell's criminal record had shown that he had been convicted of cannabis possession in 1983, thus contradicting his claim that he had never used cannabis before except for the 10 months prior to his arrest.

Lawyer Tonio Azzopardi appeared for Mr Seychell.