‘Crop sitter’ faces deportation

A man who has been sentenced to two years in jail for serving as a cannabis “crop sitter” could be deported to Vietnam.
On June 6, the County Court heard that Nua Van Tran, 54, was arrested at a cannabis “grow house” on Rock Pool Road, Truganina.
County Court Judge Irene Lawson said police arrested Tran and another alleged “crop sitter” on February 10.
Police found 122 cannabis plants, weighing 43.99 kilograms, at the property.
Judge Lawson said that when Tran was arrested, he was “fully co-operative” with police and pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.
The court heard that Tran, a Vietnamese national, came to Australia in 2008.
He was granted a bridging visa pending his application for refugee status on the basis that he could not freely practise Catholicism in Vietnam.
Judge Lawson said that while he was in Australia, Tran had worked as a labourer and fruit picker, sending much of his money back to his family in Vietnam.
In December last year, Tran met a couple who offered him free board if he would look after some plants and sleep in a house.
Judge Lawson said that apart from acting as a “crop sitter”, for which he was paid $3000 in cash, Tran had no prior criminal history and had led an “exemplary life”.
Judge Lawson said she accepted that Tran was “in somewhat of a difficult situation” at the time of his offending.
But she said this did not excuse his behaviour and that the court must “emphasise deterrence” in Tran’s sentence.
She sentenced Tran to two years imprisonment, including 12 months before he would be eligible for parole.
She said Mr Tran’s 116 days in pre-sentence detention would count as time already served. Judge Lawson said that it was “likely” that as a result of his criminal conviction, Tran would be deported to Vietnam after serving his jail term.