Pubdate: Tue, 16 Aug 2011 Source: Border Mail (Australia) Copyright: 2011 Border Mail Contact: http://www.bordermail.com.au/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1017 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 - --- MAP posted-by: Richard R Smith Jr.