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Sydney man Dac Ho, who was caught dumping cannabis waste at the Mitchell tip last year, left court on Wednesday sentenced with a good behaviour order for the crime. Ho, 55, was arrested on August 27, 2016, after an anonymous caller had tipped off police to a man taking garbage bags out from a van at the tip. He spent three months in custody after being refused bail, and had been charged with possessing cannabis, being knowingly concerned with trafficking and cultivating cannabis, and destroying or concealing evidence. On Wednesday, those charges were dismissed by Magistrate Robert Cook after the prosecution offered no evidence. Ho then pleaded guilty to one charge of accessory after the fact - that is, helping someone to cultivate cannabis by dumping the waste. The charge he faced amounted to 10 cannabis plants. When he was arrested, Ho told police that he ran a waste disposal company, and he had been instructed by an anonymous caller to rent two vans and make the trips to the north Canberra resource centre. Ho said he did not know what was in the bags, though admitted he was suspicious when he smelled something he described as rotting meat. In sentencing submissions, Ho's defence barrister Ken Archer said the offence had some unusual characteristics. He said Ho was not involved in the substantive crime - the cultivation of cannabis - or it was not alleged that he was. It was difficult to characterise what Ho's involvement in the whole operation was, Mr Archer said. In her submissions, prosecutor Katrina MacKenzie said police investigations suggested Ho had lied to police about his knowledge of the contents of the bags. "We don't know if he actually entered the [cannabis grow] house, but what we do know is gloves with his DNA were found in the bags," Ms MacKenzie said. She noted he had a criminal history with NSW entries from 20 years ago, but no relevant offences. Mr Cook found Ho guilty and convicted him of the offence. Taking into account that he had spent three months in custody, Mr Cook then released Ho to return to Sydney on a 12 month good behaviour order. He said the crime was serious, with reference to the five year maximum period of imprisonment it attracted, and that Ho had spent three months in jail when refused bail. The dumping charges was also serious because it made up a part of an illegal operation that had negative flow on effects in the community, Mr Cook said.

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