By Alesha Capone
A man and woman who were arrested after police allegedly discovered more than 1000 cannabis plants in a Truganina factory will have their trial heard by a judge, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At a hearing on June 15, the pair asked the County Court to decide whether their future trial could be presided over by a judge, rather than a jury.
County Court chief judge Peter Kidd said that while the case had been listed for trial on June 1, the pandemic had forced jury trials to be suspended since March this year, causing a delay of up to nine months or more for cases to be heard.
Judge Kidd said it was in the public interest for people charged with serious offences to access “expeditious justice”.
He ordered that the case be heard and determined by a judge alone.
The man and woman face one charge each of the cultivation of cannabis, in a quantity not less than a large commercial quantity.
The man has been on remand since being arrested in 2018, while the woman was granted bail in March last year.
