A BRAY Park man cultivated 24 cannabis plants for his own personal use, the Murwillumbah Local Court heard yesterday.

Along with the 24 plants, each between 1m and 1.5m in height, 54-year-old Keith Armstrong also had 262g of cannabis leaf in his Thomas Street home when a search warrant was executed on December 9 last year.

Armstrong pleaded guilty to charges of cannabis cultivation and possession and was yesterday convicted and fined $400, plus $76 in court costs.

Magistrate Michael Dakin said the amount of cannabis found in Armstrong’s house was approaching the traffic- able quantity of the drug.

He rejected a submission to dismiss the charges on a section 10 good behaviour bond because of the number of plants, amount of cannabis seized and the way it was packaged.

Armstrong, who is a medical alarm installer and also cares for his wife, maintained throughout the investigation the cannabis was for his personal use.

According to police documents tendered to the court, Armstrong was at home when police executed a search warrant at 7.18am, December 9 and he admitted he was growing cannabis at the rear of his dwelling.

A total of 24 cannabis plants, all between the heights of 1m and 1.5m, were found growing in pots in a greenhouse at the rear of the main home.

Armstrong told police he was a regular cannabis smoker and started growing the plants in August 2009 from seed.

He showed police two other areas of the house where cannabis was stored in paper and resealable plastic bags.

In a further search, police also found a large number of resealable plastic bags containing cannabis seeds and leaf in an office cupboard.