- The soccer star’s father was caught with a weed crop
- Bradley Witherden is the father of West Coast’s Alex Witherden
- He was sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order.
The father of an AFL player was caught with his marijuana crop after police officers followed a marijuana trail leading to a factory in Victoria.
Bradley John Witherden, 56, pleaded guilty to cultivating a narcotic plant and possession of cannabis while appearing in Geelong Magistrates Court on Monday.
Witherden’s son Alex currently plays for West Coast Eagles after joining the club in 2020.
Bradley Witherden was sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order, including 100 hours of unpaid community work, with no conviction recorded.
Bradley John Witherden (pictured left with his football star son Alex) pleaded guilty to cultivating a narcotic plant and possession of cannabis.
Witherden’s son is West Coast defender Alex (pictured playing against Essendon earlier this month)
The court heard police officers were alerted to a robbery in Norlane on January 28, shortly before 8pm.
Police arrived and discovered cannabis scattered on a road on a footpath leading in the direction of a factory.
Witherden also arrived at the scene and told police he was growing marijuana at the factory.
A room upstairs in the building had been transformed into a growing room, with all the equipment necessary to grow the plant.
Police confiscated 11 cannabis plants at the scene, as well as plants scattered on the road, and two ziplock bags with material inside believed to be cannabis.
Witherden admitted to growing the plants when interviewed by police.
His lawyer Tom Edwards told the court Witherden turned to the cannabis cultivation scheme due to financial pressures and had never appeared in court before.
Mr Edwards explained that Witherden’s plan was a one-man operation and that he did not know exactly what he was doing.
Witherden’s lawyer Tom Edwards told the court his client turned to the cannabis cultivation scheme due to financial pressures (file photo).
Edwards said his client did not intend to sell the drug to smoke, but rather planned to extract the oil to sell.
He also argued that a conviction could affect Witherden’s entire business.
Magistrate Urfa Masood acknowledged that “it has been a difficult time” for Witherden, which led him to decide to grow cannabis.
And while the operation was sophisticated in some ways, it also showed elements of a lack of sophistication.
Witherden also took full responsibility for the matter from the beginning.