A sentencing judge is not bound to accept a Crown concession as to the offender's role in a drug cultivation offence, provided the judge affords procedural fairness by flagging concerns and offering the opportunity to call evidence. The term 'crop sitter' is not a term of art and the characterisation of an offender's role in commercial cultivation is not a binary question. Sentences of 3 years and 8 months' imprisonment for commercial cannabis cultivation (128 plants, 51.73 kg) are within the appropriate range even for offenders characterised as crop sitters.
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