A Blenheim father blames his son for pressuring him to smuggle hashish into the Blenheim courthouse cells.
Alasdair Edward Graham Shave, 59, who represented himself in the Blenheim District Court yesterday, said he tried to smuggle the drug inside two books "under duress". The books were Edge of Reason and Pay the Devil, by Jack Higgins.
Shave, a draughtsman, admitted dealing cannabis resin and was sentenced to six months' community detention and 140 hours' community work.
Judge Tony Zohrab said Shave asked a jailer on May 31 to give two books to his son, Dallas Edward Oran Shave, who was being held in custody at the courthouse after admitting possessing methamphetamine for supply.
The jailer found 5.8 grams of cannabis resin, wrapped in tinfoil, hidden in the spine of one of the books.
Dallas Shave had put a lot of pressure on his father to supply drugs to him while in prison, Judge Zohrab said.
Crown prosecutor Herman Roose suggested that Alasdair Shave did not realise the seriousness of the charge, because he was making excuses for not doing community work in his submissions.
A sentence of community detention would not act as a sufficient deterrent, he said.
The prison system was determined but not successful in keeping out drugs, Mr Roose said.
The judge said Alasdair Shave had a long criminal history, including prison sentences for cultivating cannabis and possessing cannabis for supply, but had not been in court since 2000.
"I could make a point of sending you to prison, but I really don't think you will see it as a deterrent."
Shave might also become a burden on the state if he lost his job, Judge Zohrab said.
If Shave had problems doing the community work, he would be sentenced to prison, he said.
"I'll treat this as an isolated lapse rather than the same old same old, but if you continue with supplying, it will be prison."
Before he left the dock, Shave told Judge Zohrab he would comply with the sentence. "I do the crime, I'll do the time," he said.
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