John Philip Robertson was sentenced after pleading guilty to two counts of possessing a prohibited drug and one charge of producing a commercial quantity of the drug.

While the 47-year-old claimed the drugs were for his personal use, his lawyer Julia Clarke told the court he did not think growing marijuana was wrong and painted a picture of a man who cared for his cannabis the same way he cared for his extensive vegetable garden.

“He lives in denial as to the criminality of that activity,” she said.

Ms Clarke said his attitude to the drug was borne out by the way in which police came to discover nearly four kilograms of marijuana, including 28 plants, on his property.

“When police turned up at his property, he just invited them in,” she said. “There was no search warrant – he just proceeded to show the officer around.”

Police had been called to Mr Robertson’s property because a neighbour reported hearing a gunshot, but the sound turned out to be the cracking of a stock whip to scare parrots away from his vegetable garden.

Ms Clark told the court on Friday of Mr Robertson’s background; that his mother was an alcoholic and his father was murdered when he was 14.

He left school early and was therefore almost illiterate and has made his living working on farms and properties, and bartering his home-grown vegetables for meat from the butcher.

A back injury in his 30s triggered his use of marijuana for pain relief.

“He has been donating vegetables to the old people’s home and palliative care units in the area,” Ms Clarke said.

While taking Mr Robertson’s guilty plea and his community spirit into account, Magistrate Sharron Crews said a history of drugs charges over the last 10 years meant it was time for a custodial sentence.

“It is (growing marijuana) unlawful and, given your record, you should know that by now,” Ms Crews said.