1 00:00:01,480 --> 00:00:03,760 Speaker 1: There was a great shock and scandal in the district 2 00:00:03,840 --> 00:00:07,840 Speaker 1: because the police had come and arrested their neighbor, Nick, 3 00:00:08,640 --> 00:00:12,520 Speaker 1: the guy who called himself Nick the Riverman. Nick kept 4 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:16,640 Speaker 1: raving onto the place about the medicinal benefits of cannabis, 5 00:00:17,120 --> 00:00:20,440 Speaker 1: how his grandmother back in Romania was a naturopath or 6 00:00:20,440 --> 00:00:23,759 Speaker 1: something like that, and how he is prepared to die 7 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:27,240 Speaker 1: in jail to defend his belief that cannabis is a 8 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:30,040 Speaker 1: wonderful thing and everyone should have free access to it. 9 00:00:30,400 --> 00:00:33,400 Speaker 1: I'm Andrew Rule is his life and crimes. Today, we're 10 00:00:33,400 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: going to go back in time and look at the 11 00:00:35,760 --> 00:00:41,680 Speaker 1: adventures of a Romanian fella who called himself Nick the Riverman. 12 00:00:42,240 --> 00:00:46,760 Speaker 1: Now this spoke's real name is a complicated Romanian name. 13 00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:52,920 Speaker 1: It is Gelu, Nikolai, Pusia or Pouchia. But for our purposes, 14 00:00:53,120 --> 00:00:56,800 Speaker 1: let's call him Nick, because that's what he called himself 15 00:00:56,880 --> 00:00:59,920 Speaker 1: and what everybody else called him once he got to Australia. 16 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:03,840 Speaker 1: Now Nick bobbed up for our purposes. He bobs up 17 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: in East Gippsland at the district of Breuthon and Bruthen 18 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:14,200 Speaker 1: Is in the old Shire of Tambo, which no longer exists, 19 00:01:14,200 --> 00:01:18,959 Speaker 1: but the Tambo River runs from its headwaters up past Omeo, 20 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:22,360 Speaker 1: and in those mountains it runs down a relatively short 21 00:01:22,360 --> 00:01:27,280 Speaker 1: course through the mountains through a winding valley, the Tambo Valley, 22 00:01:27,280 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: and then it hits a flat country at Breuthen and 23 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: widens out into quite a big river that then empties 24 00:01:33,280 --> 00:01:37,119 Speaker 1: into the gipsand lakes. And the Tambo Valley has been 25 00:01:37,319 --> 00:01:39,920 Speaker 1: settled a long time, and the upper reaches, of course, 26 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:44,080 Speaker 1: is very wild, rough country. It's state forests, it's state parks, 27 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:49,040 Speaker 1: and it's bushy and steep and rocks and all the 28 00:01:49,120 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: rest of it. And there's not much settlement through their 29 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:58,560 Speaker 1: only different patches along the river. And Breuthen is sort 30 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:01,360 Speaker 1: of the last of the flat land, and people who 31 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:05,640 Speaker 1: lived just north of Breuthen are actually living a butting 32 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 1: the forest. And this is where our man, Nick, the 33 00:02:10,840 --> 00:02:15,200 Speaker 1: Riverman as he called himself, washed up sometime in the 34 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 1: nineteen nineties, and Nick turned up there with quite a backstory. 35 00:02:20,440 --> 00:02:24,360 Speaker 1: Nick had grown up in Romania in the sixties and 36 00:02:24,400 --> 00:02:29,360 Speaker 1: seventies at a time when Romania was run by a 37 00:02:29,400 --> 00:02:34,880 Speaker 1: sort of a doctor evil type dictator called Nikolai Chasescu, 38 00:02:35,040 --> 00:02:38,000 Speaker 1: whose name I can't pronounce. But he and he's we 39 00:02:38,080 --> 00:02:42,239 Speaker 1: could dictate a wife ran the place like a personal estate, 40 00:02:43,080 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 1: and it was very strictly controlled. It went to rack 41 00:02:46,800 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: and ruin economically and ended up they were trying to 42 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,720 Speaker 1: rule a place, you know, with the jack boot and 43 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:58,519 Speaker 1: the rifle and the gun butt, and inevitably Romania's economy 44 00:02:58,560 --> 00:03:02,280 Speaker 1: fell apart and people started to try and flee it, 45 00:03:02,680 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 1: and the dictator's answer to that was to put more 46 00:03:06,360 --> 00:03:10,080 Speaker 1: border guards on and the machine gun nests and patrols 47 00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: and people with rifles and dogs and all the rest 48 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:19,399 Speaker 1: of it to stop Roumanians from escaping into really interesting 49 00:03:19,680 --> 00:03:23,720 Speaker 1: safe havens like the old Yugoslavia, which was not all 50 00:03:23,720 --> 00:03:30,359 Speaker 1: that safe. But the Romanians were so desperate that routinely 51 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 1: at night dozens of them would try to swim across 52 00:03:34,280 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: the River Danube in order to get into mostly into 53 00:03:39,560 --> 00:03:45,600 Speaker 1: what was in Yugoslavia. And one of these refugees who 54 00:03:45,640 --> 00:03:51,560 Speaker 1: did that deadly escape was this man Nick Nick Pucia 55 00:03:51,840 --> 00:03:56,760 Speaker 1: or Puussia, and he did that in around probably nineteen 56 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: eighty eight. Around that time. He gets as the river 57 00:04:00,560 --> 00:04:03,040 Speaker 1: without being shot, although he told people that you know, 58 00:04:03,200 --> 00:04:07,480 Speaker 1: shots were fired. They might have been, and he didn't 59 00:04:07,560 --> 00:04:10,320 Speaker 1: drown obviously, and he gets to the other side and 60 00:04:10,560 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: he's thrown into prison on the other side, which is 61 00:04:13,720 --> 00:04:15,960 Speaker 1: not a very nice place to be imprisoned. I think 62 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:18,200 Speaker 1: they put you in there and let you go hungry 63 00:04:18,240 --> 00:04:21,400 Speaker 1: for a fair while. And eventually he was deemed to 64 00:04:21,400 --> 00:04:23,960 Speaker 1: be a genuine refuge and he got to Australia. So 65 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:27,320 Speaker 1: he hits Australia around in the eighty nine to ninety 66 00:04:28,720 --> 00:04:32,559 Speaker 1: and he's got a wife and little girl, baby girl 67 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:36,040 Speaker 1: back in Romania and they can't come out to Australia 68 00:04:36,040 --> 00:04:39,119 Speaker 1: for a while. So he goes fruit picking. Hard worker, 69 00:04:39,200 --> 00:04:41,279 Speaker 1: goes fruit picking. Then he gets a job at the 70 00:04:41,320 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: busy board factory out in Noble Park or somewhere. Factory 71 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:48,200 Speaker 1: hand learns a bit of English as he goes along, 72 00:04:48,760 --> 00:04:51,960 Speaker 1: might have known a little bit of English already. Interestingly, 73 00:04:52,279 --> 00:04:55,279 Speaker 1: back in Romania, he had trained apart from being in 74 00:04:55,320 --> 00:04:57,600 Speaker 1: the army for two years, which everyone had to do, 75 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:00,799 Speaker 1: he had trained as a forester. In your about trees 76 00:05:00,839 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 1: and a borer culture and horticulture. And anybody that's been 77 00:05:05,560 --> 00:05:10,320 Speaker 1: to Eastern Europe, especially those poorer countries there, knows that 78 00:05:10,720 --> 00:05:13,360 Speaker 1: basically all the locals are very in touch with their 79 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:18,360 Speaker 1: peasant forebears, and they grow tomatoes, that grow corn. 80 00:05:18,880 --> 00:05:21,000 Speaker 2: They grow potatoes, they grow. 81 00:05:20,960 --> 00:05:22,960 Speaker 1: All the things you can eat, and you know, have 82 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:25,640 Speaker 1: fruit trees and all the rest of it, because without 83 00:05:25,680 --> 00:05:29,920 Speaker 1: that they wouldn't have survived. They are very good subsistence 84 00:05:30,279 --> 00:05:33,800 Speaker 1: gardeners and farmers from top to bottom. And I can 85 00:05:33,839 --> 00:05:38,159 Speaker 1: remember walking through a Romanian city, a small city, but 86 00:05:38,200 --> 00:05:41,360 Speaker 1: a city, and seeing a law firm that had the 87 00:05:42,040 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: signs set up outside this particular house in this quite 88 00:05:46,080 --> 00:05:48,800 Speaker 1: a busy street saying you know such and such lawyers 89 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:53,360 Speaker 1: in the local language. And in the front garden were 90 00:05:53,440 --> 00:05:55,720 Speaker 1: tomato plants and sweet corner and all the rest of it. 91 00:05:55,920 --> 00:05:59,120 Speaker 1: So even at a place where the house was their 92 00:05:59,120 --> 00:06:03,320 Speaker 1: headquarters are a law firm, they were growing vegetables. And 93 00:06:03,400 --> 00:06:05,800 Speaker 1: this gives you an insight into the sort of person 94 00:06:06,480 --> 00:06:09,279 Speaker 1: that this nick guy was. When he got up to 95 00:06:09,800 --> 00:06:12,920 Speaker 1: brew them in the skips land, he got hold of 96 00:06:12,960 --> 00:06:16,240 Speaker 1: a shed on a block of land, and it was 97 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:20,840 Speaker 1: notionally a shed, but he quickly converted it into living quarters. 98 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:24,800 Speaker 1: And everyone who knew him then said, this guy was terrific. 99 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:29,120 Speaker 1: He shed was really organized, really clean, spotless. He made 100 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:32,839 Speaker 1: furniture out of timber from the bush. He had bees 101 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: for honey. He grew vegetables, a great variety of them, 102 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:39,440 Speaker 1: and used to preserve them and all the rest of it, 103 00:06:39,600 --> 00:06:43,520 Speaker 1: swap them with other people barter. He would shoot rabbits 104 00:06:43,560 --> 00:06:46,080 Speaker 1: for meat. He would trap fish in the river, and 105 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:48,520 Speaker 1: he would get carp which are a nuisance of course, 106 00:06:48,560 --> 00:06:51,760 Speaker 1: and a pest. And he would turn the carp into 107 00:06:51,880 --> 00:06:56,480 Speaker 1: liquid fertilizer to put on his vegetables. And he would 108 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,000 Speaker 1: pan for gold. In fact, he built a sluice box 109 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:03,039 Speaker 1: and respect for gold in the Tambo River which is nearby, 110 00:07:03,440 --> 00:07:06,880 Speaker 1: and in various creeks around the place. And the suice 111 00:07:06,920 --> 00:07:10,400 Speaker 1: box is an arrangement where you run sand from the 112 00:07:10,440 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 1: bottom sand and little rocks on the bottom of the 113 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:16,360 Speaker 1: river through the sluice box and have water running over it, 114 00:07:16,960 --> 00:07:21,080 Speaker 1: and you find little specs of gold. And indeed he 115 00:07:21,200 --> 00:07:23,080 Speaker 1: used to get enough gold that he would sell it, 116 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:27,720 Speaker 1: this alluvial gold, which is much sought after because it's 117 00:07:27,840 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: I think it's soft and very easy to work or something, 118 00:07:31,360 --> 00:07:34,080 Speaker 1: and very pure perhaps, And he would sell that to 119 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:38,080 Speaker 1: buyers in Melbourne, in suburbs like Colfield and and Kilda. 120 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:41,280 Speaker 1: He would sell his illuvial gold. So he was very 121 00:07:41,360 --> 00:07:47,640 Speaker 1: much a hard working, self sufficient man who was able 122 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:51,560 Speaker 1: to sort of feed himself with his own efforts. And 123 00:07:52,800 --> 00:07:57,240 Speaker 1: during the late nineties he was reasonably well known around Bruthon. 124 00:07:57,280 --> 00:07:59,840 Speaker 1: He learned to speak a bit of English. 125 00:08:00,040 --> 00:08:01,520 Speaker 2: He was always fairly well dressed. 126 00:08:01,600 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 1: People noticed he had a lot of gold chains and 127 00:08:05,200 --> 00:08:07,800 Speaker 1: jewel and stuff like that. Like a lot of people 128 00:08:07,880 --> 00:08:11,160 Speaker 1: who've come from hard places, he liked to carry a 129 00:08:11,200 --> 00:08:14,480 Speaker 1: bit of gold and stuff because you could move and 130 00:08:14,560 --> 00:08:17,720 Speaker 1: take your wealth with you quickly. I think it's probably 131 00:08:17,760 --> 00:08:21,640 Speaker 1: a self preservation thing. With a lot of people, and 132 00:08:22,000 --> 00:08:24,360 Speaker 1: a lot of men found him quite interesting because he 133 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:27,240 Speaker 1: was good at doing stuff and talked about it and 134 00:08:27,360 --> 00:08:30,920 Speaker 1: was quite willing to share his knowledge. Women weren't so 135 00:08:31,000 --> 00:08:33,720 Speaker 1: keen on him, most of them. I know one of them. 136 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:38,080 Speaker 1: One of their neighbors is someone I know. And she said, look, 137 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:41,080 Speaker 1: he was a bit odd. He was sort of a 138 00:08:41,080 --> 00:08:43,680 Speaker 1: bit up himself, and I found him a bit slazy, 139 00:08:43,960 --> 00:08:46,240 Speaker 1: was summary of him. But she said a lot of 140 00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:48,840 Speaker 1: the guys didn't mind him because he was an interesting 141 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:51,760 Speaker 1: guy to them because of all the things he could do. 142 00:08:52,720 --> 00:08:56,199 Speaker 1: This same woman young women in those days. She at 143 00:08:56,240 --> 00:08:58,960 Speaker 1: one point went canoeing on the Tamba River, and what 144 00:08:59,000 --> 00:09:02,920 Speaker 1: she did was get dropped off right up upstream up 145 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:06,560 Speaker 1: halfway to a place called Tambo Crossing. I think there's 146 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:09,640 Speaker 1: a rock they called white Rock that stands out in 147 00:09:09,679 --> 00:09:11,920 Speaker 1: a river bed and you can get into the river 148 00:09:11,960 --> 00:09:15,760 Speaker 1: there with your canoe and you can hop in and 149 00:09:15,800 --> 00:09:19,400 Speaker 1: go downstream. Fairly fast flowing river, and it's got a 150 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:23,000 Speaker 1: lot of rocks and bends in it. Quite an exciting 151 00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 1: trip at different times of the year, depending on the 152 00:09:26,160 --> 00:09:29,959 Speaker 1: water flow. And on the trip down river, which might 153 00:09:30,000 --> 00:09:33,880 Speaker 1: have been six or eight k's or ten k's, she 154 00:09:34,080 --> 00:09:37,960 Speaker 1: noticed as she whipped past one particular patch of very 155 00:09:38,040 --> 00:09:42,200 Speaker 1: heavy bush. The river wine through heavy bush, particularly on 156 00:09:42,240 --> 00:09:45,160 Speaker 1: the wild side, on the east side, the sort of 157 00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:50,040 Speaker 1: inland side, and she stooked sideways for a split second 158 00:09:50,160 --> 00:09:53,560 Speaker 1: she saw a big black thing snaking into. 159 00:09:53,360 --> 00:09:55,920 Speaker 2: The river and she realized what it was. It was 160 00:09:56,040 --> 00:09:57,040 Speaker 2: a large. 161 00:09:56,720 --> 00:10:00,720 Speaker 1: Bore polythene pipe what they called polypipe in the bush, 162 00:10:01,160 --> 00:10:04,679 Speaker 1: and polly pipe is used universally in the country for irrigating, 163 00:10:05,160 --> 00:10:08,640 Speaker 1: moving water around, irrigation, that sort of stuff, and this 164 00:10:08,880 --> 00:10:11,600 Speaker 1: was quite a big one, you know, because a child's 165 00:10:11,720 --> 00:10:14,840 Speaker 1: arm sort of thing, and it was poked into the river, 166 00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:18,200 Speaker 1: and the other end was vanished into the bush, and 167 00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:20,240 Speaker 1: she thought, that's funny. I wonder what that's doing out 168 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:22,800 Speaker 1: here in the middle of nowhere. And she didn't really 169 00:10:22,840 --> 00:10:27,760 Speaker 1: think much about it for quite a while until the 170 00:10:27,840 --> 00:10:30,679 Speaker 1: day came when there was a great shock and scandal 171 00:10:30,720 --> 00:10:34,079 Speaker 1: in the district because the police had come and arrested 172 00:10:35,120 --> 00:10:39,400 Speaker 1: their neighbor, Nick, the guy who called himself Nick the Riverman, 173 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:46,080 Speaker 1: Nick the Romanian, and they arrested him because someone had 174 00:10:47,120 --> 00:10:50,160 Speaker 1: tipped them off that he had grown a large crop 175 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:56,080 Speaker 1: of cannabis upstream in the bush beside the Tambo, on 176 00:10:56,120 --> 00:10:58,440 Speaker 1: the wild side of the Tamba, in the forest there. 177 00:10:59,080 --> 00:11:03,120 Speaker 1: And indeed it turned out that he'd set himself. 178 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:03,760 Speaker 2: Up very well. 179 00:11:04,320 --> 00:11:07,200 Speaker 1: He'd gone up a certain track and then down another 180 00:11:07,520 --> 00:11:10,680 Speaker 1: certain smaller track and parked his vehicle. I think he 181 00:11:10,679 --> 00:11:14,439 Speaker 1: had a ute, And then he had a homemade raft. 182 00:11:14,880 --> 00:11:17,000 Speaker 2: That he'd set up so we could use it. 183 00:11:17,040 --> 00:11:19,000 Speaker 1: We have some little drums and a bit of a 184 00:11:19,040 --> 00:11:22,840 Speaker 1: deck or whatever, and he launched the raft and he used. 185 00:11:22,600 --> 00:11:26,680 Speaker 2: The raft to move poly pipe. 186 00:11:26,800 --> 00:11:31,240 Speaker 1: And other materials, a tent and different things. He needed 187 00:11:31,280 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 1: tools and things downstream. I trust it was downstream I 188 00:11:36,160 --> 00:11:40,480 Speaker 1: think to a patch of bush that was suitable for 189 00:11:40,520 --> 00:11:43,280 Speaker 1: his purposes, and that is it allowed a certain amount 190 00:11:43,320 --> 00:11:46,400 Speaker 1: of sun in there was a good spot to draw 191 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:50,280 Speaker 1: water from, and it was very isolated. There was no 192 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:54,720 Speaker 1: path into it, no track into it. And hence using 193 00:11:54,760 --> 00:11:57,440 Speaker 1: the raft was a great thing because it meant he 194 00:11:57,640 --> 00:12:01,000 Speaker 1: reached an area that no one would be driving or 195 00:12:01,080 --> 00:12:05,400 Speaker 1: using motorbikes or even walking. And he had set up 196 00:12:05,960 --> 00:12:12,320 Speaker 1: this rather complex and sophisticated dope growing plantation and he 197 00:12:12,360 --> 00:12:15,920 Speaker 1: grew precisely two hundred and fifty eight plants. And we 198 00:12:16,000 --> 00:12:18,920 Speaker 1: know this because he kept a diary, and not only 199 00:12:18,960 --> 00:12:24,040 Speaker 1: that during the eight month growing season which preceded his 200 00:12:24,160 --> 00:12:27,160 Speaker 1: arrest by two or three years. Two or three years 201 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:30,840 Speaker 1: before he was arrested, this good year for growing dope, 202 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:35,240 Speaker 1: it's an eight month season, and he had filmed himself 203 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:40,680 Speaker 1: regularly over the eight months and compile a three hour 204 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:44,920 Speaker 1: video in which he dubs himself Nick the Riverman. He 205 00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:48,720 Speaker 1: doesn't actually film his own face for legal reasons. He 206 00:12:48,760 --> 00:12:52,200 Speaker 1: explains good idea, Nick, but his voice is on the 207 00:12:52,240 --> 00:12:56,240 Speaker 1: audio because he's explaining to an audience. I don't know 208 00:12:56,280 --> 00:12:58,600 Speaker 1: which audience he thought he had, but he was explaining 209 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:02,480 Speaker 1: to whoever's watching what he's doing and how to grow it, 210 00:13:02,679 --> 00:13:04,840 Speaker 1: why he did it this way and not that way, 211 00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:07,160 Speaker 1: amount of fertilizer he used, etc. 212 00:13:07,520 --> 00:13:08,200 Speaker 2: Etc. Etc. 213 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:12,240 Speaker 1: And it was a very detailed insight into how an 214 00:13:12,240 --> 00:13:16,440 Speaker 1: illegal cannabis grower could grow cannabis in the Australian bush 215 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:21,040 Speaker 1: in East Gippsland at that particular time using what was 216 00:13:21,080 --> 00:13:26,120 Speaker 1: to hand. It was such a good example of how. 217 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:26,439 Speaker 2: To do it. 218 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:29,520 Speaker 1: Then we'll get back to the real story in a minute, 219 00:13:29,520 --> 00:13:32,160 Speaker 1: but it was such a good example of how to 220 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:37,840 Speaker 1: do it that the forensic police, the police forensic botanist, 221 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:42,440 Speaker 1: a female professor I think she is. She took that 222 00:13:42,559 --> 00:13:45,760 Speaker 1: video at a later date after the court case that followed, 223 00:13:46,520 --> 00:13:49,880 Speaker 1: and she took it to an international conference and screened 224 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:53,559 Speaker 1: parts of it to show her peers in the forensic 225 00:13:53,600 --> 00:13:58,000 Speaker 1: botany business how good this guy was. So that's how 226 00:13:58,040 --> 00:14:02,600 Speaker 1: good he was. Obviously he was caught because he was 227 00:14:02,760 --> 00:14:05,840 Speaker 1: dubbed in. The police were tipped off and when they 228 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:09,680 Speaker 1: got there they arrested him at his heart already his shed, 229 00:14:10,440 --> 00:14:12,960 Speaker 1: which he turned into quite a comfortable sort of cabin. 230 00:14:14,240 --> 00:14:17,000 Speaker 1: They went back up to the spot on the river. 231 00:14:17,040 --> 00:14:19,720 Speaker 1: They had to bush bash their way in no raft 232 00:14:19,760 --> 00:14:20,720 Speaker 1: for them. 233 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:23,119 Speaker 2: So they had to park at the closest spot. 234 00:14:22,880 --> 00:14:25,760 Speaker 1: And then work out where tohead and head across country 235 00:14:25,800 --> 00:14:28,240 Speaker 1: through the bush and probably hit the river and walk 236 00:14:28,320 --> 00:14:31,280 Speaker 1: down the river and find the spot. When they got there, 237 00:14:31,480 --> 00:14:35,640 Speaker 1: they found the remains of the plantation. He found where 238 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:39,520 Speaker 1: he'd put up, you know, steaks, multiple steaks for each plant. 239 00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:40,560 Speaker 2: They were so tall. 240 00:14:41,400 --> 00:14:44,440 Speaker 1: He'd fed them so well with all this fertilizer and 241 00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:48,160 Speaker 1: this stuff he'd made from the carp to fertilize them, 242 00:14:48,440 --> 00:14:51,640 Speaker 1: that they'd grown between you know, more than four meters high, 243 00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:54,560 Speaker 1: so that in the old money that's more than twelve 244 00:14:54,600 --> 00:14:57,440 Speaker 1: foot so they're twelve fourteen to fifteen feet high, some 245 00:14:57,480 --> 00:15:01,080 Speaker 1: of these plants with trunks at the bay as big 246 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:06,160 Speaker 1: as a man's arm. And the police were quite fascinated 247 00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:09,040 Speaker 1: by what was left there. There was all the little 248 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:12,160 Speaker 1: bits of polly pipe that he had to trickle water 249 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:17,560 Speaker 1: into it. He'd actually, by hand, using shovels, dug things 250 00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:22,160 Speaker 1: like rice paddies. He'd leveled out ground and he'd put 251 00:15:22,240 --> 00:15:24,760 Speaker 1: done little banks around them so that he had all 252 00:15:24,800 --> 00:15:30,000 Speaker 1: these regular depressions with little banks around them, just like 253 00:15:30,120 --> 00:15:34,520 Speaker 1: rice paddies. And that's where he grew his dope. I'm 254 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:36,800 Speaker 1: not sure whether he would plant them on the high 255 00:15:36,800 --> 00:15:38,600 Speaker 1: bit or the low bit, but he could fill the 256 00:15:38,640 --> 00:15:41,440 Speaker 1: low bit with water. And he had a little two 257 00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:45,120 Speaker 1: stroke pump. He used that to pump the water up 258 00:15:45,400 --> 00:15:50,000 Speaker 1: into these depressions, and that would water his plants for 259 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:52,360 Speaker 1: several days at a time. He'd give them a really 260 00:15:52,400 --> 00:15:56,040 Speaker 1: good drink every now and again. It was a very 261 00:15:56,240 --> 00:15:59,600 Speaker 1: ingenious and carefully set up thing. He had a tent 262 00:16:00,240 --> 00:16:03,120 Speaker 1: to sleep in, he had a tent to keep his 263 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:06,120 Speaker 1: food and all that sort of stuff in supplies, and 264 00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:08,480 Speaker 1: he had a shed. He knocked up a shed to 265 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:14,280 Speaker 1: dry the cannabis when he harvested it. Now, after his 266 00:16:14,440 --> 00:16:17,480 Speaker 1: arrest in early two thousand and four, the police were 267 00:16:17,480 --> 00:16:20,400 Speaker 1: tipped off in late two thousand and three. They went 268 00:16:20,440 --> 00:16:24,320 Speaker 1: in there, they found what they found. They dug around, 269 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:27,880 Speaker 1: they looked around for any sign of buried anything, probably 270 00:16:27,960 --> 00:16:32,160 Speaker 1: looking for buried treasure, you'd imagine, and they found a barrel, 271 00:16:32,240 --> 00:16:34,480 Speaker 1: and in a barrel they found the video, the three 272 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:38,520 Speaker 1: hour video, which is basically what got this guy convicted 273 00:16:38,840 --> 00:16:41,760 Speaker 1: because when the police played it back there with the evidence, 274 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:46,320 Speaker 1: they found a diary which actually helped them as well 275 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:49,440 Speaker 1: because it had dates and places and times and the 276 00:16:49,480 --> 00:16:53,200 Speaker 1: activities he'd been doing. And they found cannabis seeds among 277 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:55,560 Speaker 1: other things, and probably I think vegetable seeds as well, 278 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:58,440 Speaker 1: because he used to grow veggies to help support himself. 279 00:16:59,200 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 1: So it was a very sophisticated set up, and sadly 280 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:07,919 Speaker 1: for him, he had left this evidence very neatly in 281 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:12,320 Speaker 1: the barrel and buried it so carefully that it was 282 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:15,160 Speaker 1: all preserved very well so that when the police uncovered 283 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:17,680 Speaker 1: it they could take it all to court and use 284 00:17:17,720 --> 00:17:21,440 Speaker 1: it to get a conviction. And back in mid two 285 00:17:21,480 --> 00:17:23,879 Speaker 1: thousand and four he went to trial in the County 286 00:17:23,920 --> 00:17:29,080 Speaker 1: Court held at Bensdale, and Judge Jeffrey Chettle, well known 287 00:17:29,160 --> 00:17:34,720 Speaker 1: judge around Victoria, now retired, was the judge and a 288 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:38,040 Speaker 1: pretty experienced and seasoned judge. And when it was put 289 00:17:38,080 --> 00:17:44,119 Speaker 1: to him by Nick, the Riverman's lawyer, who was trying hard, 290 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:49,480 Speaker 1: it was put to the judge that Nick had actually 291 00:17:50,280 --> 00:17:54,040 Speaker 1: lost interest in the dope crop and had let the 292 00:17:54,080 --> 00:17:57,760 Speaker 1: plants rot because it had a change of heart and 293 00:17:57,800 --> 00:18:00,560 Speaker 1: had decided not to sell he dope on. 294 00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:04,359 Speaker 2: The wholesale market. Judge Chttel I think did not believe that. 295 00:18:05,320 --> 00:18:07,520 Speaker 2: He preferred to believe that these. 296 00:18:07,600 --> 00:18:12,399 Speaker 1: Police evidence and indicators that this was about one and 297 00:18:12,400 --> 00:18:15,720 Speaker 1: a half million dollars worth of cannabis at street prices, 298 00:18:16,240 --> 00:18:19,520 Speaker 1: but that he probably sold at wholesale to people in 299 00:18:19,560 --> 00:18:22,320 Speaker 1: Melbourne for around a half a million dollar mark, which 300 00:18:22,359 --> 00:18:26,760 Speaker 1: is not a bad sum of money for eight months work. 301 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:30,879 Speaker 1: When you're camping in a shed at Bruthen Back what 302 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:33,200 Speaker 1: is now more than twenty years ago, it's getting close 303 00:18:33,200 --> 00:18:36,160 Speaker 1: to quarter of a century ago. And half a million 304 00:18:36,200 --> 00:18:39,439 Speaker 1: dollars cash was quite a bit of money. And the 305 00:18:39,480 --> 00:18:43,600 Speaker 1: smart money says that our friend Nick got all or 306 00:18:43,720 --> 00:18:47,399 Speaker 1: most of that money. And so that judge, Judge Chttle 307 00:18:47,520 --> 00:18:52,080 Speaker 1: sentenced him to some four years and ten months, almost 308 00:18:52,080 --> 00:18:55,840 Speaker 1: five years. There were many charges and one of them 309 00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:59,600 Speaker 1: he had a loaded rifle and ammunition and all sorts 310 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:02,639 Speaker 1: of things. So there was a bit to charge him 311 00:19:02,680 --> 00:19:05,800 Speaker 1: with four years and ten months of which he had 312 00:19:05,840 --> 00:19:09,159 Speaker 1: to serve a minimum of three years. Now he serves 313 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:12,639 Speaker 1: you three years. While he's inside, he studies up more. 314 00:19:12,960 --> 00:19:16,480 Speaker 1: He's a good student. Clever guy, studies up gets another 315 00:19:16,680 --> 00:19:21,240 Speaker 1: I think caught a culture qualification and an Australian Borah 316 00:19:21,280 --> 00:19:24,679 Speaker 1: culture qualification which means that when he gets out, he 317 00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:30,120 Speaker 1: goes and works, among other places, he works for one 318 00:19:30,119 --> 00:19:33,560 Speaker 1: of the power companies clearing trees from under the power lines. 319 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:36,359 Speaker 1: He got a job with them and clearing firebreaks and 320 00:19:36,359 --> 00:19:38,840 Speaker 1: all that sort of stuff. So he had quite a 321 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:41,359 Speaker 1: good job after he got out of jail, as he 322 00:19:42,040 --> 00:19:44,040 Speaker 1: actually had before. 323 00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:47,399 Speaker 2: All this dope growing business. It had a pretty good job. 324 00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:51,480 Speaker 1: Back in the early nineties with the Forests Commission. He'd 325 00:19:51,480 --> 00:19:55,000 Speaker 1: worked at Alexandra with a Forest Commission as a forestar 326 00:19:55,680 --> 00:20:01,560 Speaker 1: despite his relatively poor English, and that come unglued because 327 00:20:02,440 --> 00:20:05,399 Speaker 1: back in the early to mid nineties he decided to 328 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:08,240 Speaker 1: go out on his own and have a go at 329 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:11,199 Speaker 1: business and he wanted to take over or start up 330 00:20:11,200 --> 00:20:15,199 Speaker 1: a plant nursery I think maybe up at Alexandra, but 331 00:20:15,680 --> 00:20:20,520 Speaker 1: somewhere anyway. And he'd borrowed money or whatever, and at 332 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:23,280 Speaker 1: a gone belly up it hadn't worked, and so he'd 333 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:27,400 Speaker 1: lost money. And that's what took him to brew them 334 00:20:27,480 --> 00:20:29,919 Speaker 1: to a place that was real cheap to buy something 335 00:20:30,880 --> 00:20:34,040 Speaker 1: and where he could use the skills that he had 336 00:20:35,040 --> 00:20:35,760 Speaker 1: to grow dope. 337 00:20:35,880 --> 00:20:38,800 Speaker 2: He clearly saw it as a way to get out of. 338 00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:43,800 Speaker 1: Debt and get himself a stake to get another start 339 00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:48,840 Speaker 1: in his new country. Meanwhile, back in the nineties early nineties, 340 00:20:48,920 --> 00:20:53,160 Speaker 1: his Roumanian wife and little daughter had eventually come out 341 00:20:53,200 --> 00:20:57,800 Speaker 1: to be with him. Sadly, the separation of two or 342 00:20:57,800 --> 00:21:01,399 Speaker 1: three years didn't make their relationship. When he's stronger, and 343 00:21:01,600 --> 00:21:03,959 Speaker 1: after a year, his wife, who I think could not 344 00:21:04,000 --> 00:21:08,600 Speaker 1: speak English, had left him, and she must have stayed 345 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:13,119 Speaker 1: around Victoria, because I know the daughter grew up in 346 00:21:13,240 --> 00:21:15,440 Speaker 1: Victoria and to this day is in. 347 00:21:15,480 --> 00:21:18,280 Speaker 2: Victoria, and he's quite friendly with her father. 348 00:21:18,520 --> 00:21:21,760 Speaker 1: And we know that because she gave some sort of 349 00:21:21,760 --> 00:21:26,920 Speaker 1: evidence at his most recent trial, which is the second 350 00:21:26,960 --> 00:21:29,800 Speaker 1: part of the story. Because our mate, the Riverman, he 351 00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:33,720 Speaker 1: does his three years back after Judge Chettle sentences him 352 00:21:33,760 --> 00:21:37,960 Speaker 1: in two thousand and four. So around late two thousand 353 00:21:37,960 --> 00:21:41,600 Speaker 1: and seven, he's out and about again. He picks up 354 00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,959 Speaker 1: work as I just mentioned, for one of the energy 355 00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:48,680 Speaker 1: companies doing the power line clearing, and he's working away. 356 00:21:48,880 --> 00:21:53,800 Speaker 1: His wife of course has left him and he goes 357 00:21:53,840 --> 00:21:57,120 Speaker 1: back at some point to Brewthen. Now whether he got 358 00:21:57,160 --> 00:22:00,879 Speaker 1: back his original property, I'm not sure what happened there, 359 00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:04,240 Speaker 1: but anyway, I know that he went back up there 360 00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:09,760 Speaker 1: because he had went back to Romania a sees folks 361 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:13,240 Speaker 1: who he hadn't seen for a long time, and he 362 00:22:13,280 --> 00:22:15,880 Speaker 1: went over there and he met up with an old 363 00:22:16,000 --> 00:22:19,639 Speaker 1: childhood friend, a female friend, married her and brought her 364 00:22:19,640 --> 00:22:22,920 Speaker 1: to Australia and he took her up to his converted 365 00:22:23,000 --> 00:22:27,320 Speaker 1: shed at bruden which was where somebody that I know 366 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:33,200 Speaker 1: met him and her, and they said, the poor woman, 367 00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:34,200 Speaker 1: she couldn't speak. 368 00:22:33,960 --> 00:22:35,119 Speaker 2: A word of English. 369 00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:38,280 Speaker 1: She was really nice and she was a very skilled cook, 370 00:22:38,359 --> 00:22:41,320 Speaker 1: great cook. But she's living in a converted shed on 371 00:22:41,359 --> 00:22:45,080 Speaker 1: the edge of the bush, no friends, no one she 372 00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:48,280 Speaker 1: could really talk to except him. And the day that 373 00:22:48,840 --> 00:22:52,639 Speaker 1: the person I know and her partner had lunch or 374 00:22:52,680 --> 00:22:55,359 Speaker 1: dinner there, they said the food was spectacular, but clearly 375 00:22:56,200 --> 00:22:59,840 Speaker 1: the wife was not all that happy, and they weren't 376 00:23:00,400 --> 00:23:03,439 Speaker 1: when later on that wife went back to Romania to 377 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:09,480 Speaker 1: look after her sick mother, and she stayed there, and 378 00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:15,600 Speaker 1: of course COVID intervened in twenty nineteen and she didn't 379 00:23:15,600 --> 00:23:19,439 Speaker 1: come back. And so i'll mate Nick the river man. 380 00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:24,440 Speaker 1: Here he is during Covid. He's lost whatever job he had, 381 00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:29,040 Speaker 1: he's got no money, COVID's closed everything down. His wife's 382 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:33,120 Speaker 1: back in Romania, and he's not feeling too good about things, 383 00:23:33,119 --> 00:23:37,199 Speaker 1: and he decides in twenty twenty two, this is about 384 00:23:39,160 --> 00:23:42,240 Speaker 1: twenty two years after his previous attempt, he decides he'll 385 00:23:42,280 --> 00:23:44,439 Speaker 1: have another go at the dope. So there he is 386 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:49,160 Speaker 1: up there again. Somebody in authority gets a tip off, perhaps, 387 00:23:49,680 --> 00:23:52,960 Speaker 1: but I don't think he any longer has the land 388 00:23:53,000 --> 00:23:55,760 Speaker 1: with the shed on it. And this time he goes 389 00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:59,280 Speaker 1: back up there because he's familiar with the district and 390 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:02,600 Speaker 1: he's full time in the bush. He's got a tent, 391 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:06,520 Speaker 1: he's got a ute, he's got a rifle, he's got 392 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:09,520 Speaker 1: a telephone, and he's got a little scooter, a little 393 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:13,160 Speaker 1: on the scooter, and he's living in a tent in 394 00:24:13,160 --> 00:24:16,359 Speaker 1: the bush, just doing the best he can. And the 395 00:24:17,240 --> 00:24:20,159 Speaker 1: relevant state authorities, the people that run the forests, whoever 396 00:24:20,280 --> 00:24:24,520 Speaker 1: long and interesting name, they went up there because they 397 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:26,159 Speaker 1: must have known he was camping in the bush or 398 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:29,880 Speaker 1: someone was, and they gave and they find the tent and. 399 00:24:30,040 --> 00:24:30,720 Speaker 2: He's not there. 400 00:24:31,520 --> 00:24:35,760 Speaker 1: Next day the police from Bensdale turn up because while 401 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:37,640 Speaker 1: the departmental. 402 00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:38,920 Speaker 2: Officers are there, they realize that there's. 403 00:24:39,400 --> 00:24:43,520 Speaker 1: I think one hundred and eighty eight cannabis seedlings in 404 00:24:43,680 --> 00:24:45,200 Speaker 1: tubes down. 405 00:24:45,000 --> 00:24:48,840 Speaker 2: By the river. So he's back at it, they tell 406 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:49,400 Speaker 2: the police. 407 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:52,480 Speaker 1: Next morning, the police turn up fairly early, and there's 408 00:24:53,560 --> 00:24:57,720 Speaker 1: Nick the riverman. Oh friend, He's standing outside his tent 409 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:01,239 Speaker 1: when the police turn up. Han't given any resistance. He's 410 00:25:01,280 --> 00:25:05,200 Speaker 1: too wise for that. There's the cannabis. There's the loaded 411 00:25:05,320 --> 00:25:08,360 Speaker 1: rifle in the ute, which is illegal, not that they 412 00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:12,960 Speaker 1: thought he was terribly dangerous or anything. And there's Nick 413 00:25:13,440 --> 00:25:17,440 Speaker 1: full of piss and wind because when the police get 414 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:22,000 Speaker 1: him to the police station and interviewing this turned into 415 00:25:22,000 --> 00:25:24,679 Speaker 1: a bit of a marathon, much to the amusement of 416 00:25:24,760 --> 00:25:29,240 Speaker 1: the judge who later ruled on the whole case. They 417 00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:34,760 Speaker 1: filled fifteen hundred pages with the interview, in which, you know, 418 00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:39,160 Speaker 1: several more than a thousand questions were asked because Nick 419 00:25:39,280 --> 00:25:43,720 Speaker 1: kept raving onto the police about the medicinal benefits of cannabis, 420 00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:47,040 Speaker 1: how his grandmother back in Romania was a natural path 421 00:25:47,160 --> 00:25:50,960 Speaker 1: or something like that, and how he is prepared to 422 00:25:51,000 --> 00:25:54,520 Speaker 1: die in jail to defend his belief that cannabis is 423 00:25:54,640 --> 00:25:57,879 Speaker 1: a wonderful thing and everyone should have free access to it. 424 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:01,080 Speaker 1: The government should be handing out cannabis well to everybody 425 00:26:01,119 --> 00:26:04,480 Speaker 1: who's in pain or in need or anything else, and 426 00:26:04,520 --> 00:26:07,399 Speaker 1: you can do everything with it. It's wonderful. And he 427 00:26:07,680 --> 00:26:11,919 Speaker 1: gave this relatively obsessive and eccentric dire tribe to the 428 00:26:11,920 --> 00:26:17,640 Speaker 1: police until their noses bled. And this was so obvious 429 00:26:17,720 --> 00:26:21,240 Speaker 1: that it came through that the judge realized what had happened. 430 00:26:21,560 --> 00:26:25,359 Speaker 1: And the judge commented on it when he was running 431 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:29,159 Speaker 1: the second trial of our man, Nick the Riverman, and 432 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:32,800 Speaker 1: the judge I suspect. He was not quite as flinty 433 00:26:32,800 --> 00:26:36,479 Speaker 1: as Jeff Chettle, who was the judge in his first trial. 434 00:26:36,800 --> 00:26:41,119 Speaker 1: This judge tended to think that our man was a 435 00:26:41,119 --> 00:26:44,600 Speaker 1: bit of a green thumb. He was interested in his 436 00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:49,080 Speaker 1: views on the medical benefits of cannabis and remarked on 437 00:26:50,119 --> 00:26:53,480 Speaker 1: a little riley, perhaps rolling his eyes a bit. But 438 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:58,080 Speaker 1: in the end he didn't really jump on Nick the 439 00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:02,000 Speaker 1: Riverman the way he could have. He said, now you're 440 00:27:02,080 --> 00:27:04,879 Speaker 1: fifty nine years old. You're a father, a devoted father, 441 00:27:05,040 --> 00:27:08,360 Speaker 1: a devoted grandfather, and we have evidence to that effect. 442 00:27:08,880 --> 00:27:12,000 Speaker 1: You are a resourceful man. You're a very hard working man. 443 00:27:12,359 --> 00:27:15,800 Speaker 1: You're quite a clever man. You appear from our psychological 444 00:27:15,800 --> 00:27:18,399 Speaker 1: reports not to be mad. You don't seem to have 445 00:27:18,400 --> 00:27:24,560 Speaker 1: any mental illness, despite your eccentricities are telling inside that one. 446 00:27:24,840 --> 00:27:28,359 Speaker 1: He's not mad, just a little eccentric, or at least 447 00:27:28,359 --> 00:27:32,400 Speaker 1: can pretend to be. And he said, I will give 448 00:27:32,440 --> 00:27:35,520 Speaker 1: you sixteen months for having one hundred and eighty eight 449 00:27:35,520 --> 00:27:38,760 Speaker 1: cannabis plants, which if you have one hundred plants that's commercial. 450 00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:42,280 Speaker 1: You've got one hundred and eighty eight. I will give 451 00:27:42,320 --> 00:27:48,280 Speaker 1: you four months for having the loaded unregistered rifle and ammunition, 452 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:53,040 Speaker 1: but I will reduce that to one month cumulative. So 453 00:27:53,200 --> 00:27:59,520 Speaker 1: the total sentence for you, mister Pucia, is seventeen months, 454 00:28:00,119 --> 00:28:04,120 Speaker 1: but that's a head sentence. That's the most you can serve. 455 00:28:05,119 --> 00:28:08,320 Speaker 1: The minimum you can serve with parole would be ten months. 456 00:28:09,520 --> 00:28:12,560 Speaker 1: And you have already been in custody since your arrest 457 00:28:12,600 --> 00:28:16,399 Speaker 1: for three hundred and twenty one days and that covers 458 00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:21,160 Speaker 1: that ten months. So you just to be clear, mister Pussaer, 459 00:28:21,359 --> 00:28:25,720 Speaker 1: just to be clear, you are paroled now you can walk. 460 00:28:26,440 --> 00:28:30,880 Speaker 1: So he walked out of Bensdale Court late last year 461 00:28:31,560 --> 00:28:36,720 Speaker 1: a freeman. And that is the story of Nick the Riverman, 462 00:28:37,000 --> 00:28:41,440 Speaker 1: the Romanian refugee who was caught twice growing dope in 463 00:28:41,560 --> 00:28:47,520 Speaker 1: large commercial qualities in Victoria and has luckily been able 464 00:28:48,560 --> 00:28:51,600 Speaker 1: to go back on the street and with any luck, 465 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:56,080 Speaker 1: stay out of trouble. And so he's got an opportunity 466 00:28:56,480 --> 00:29:00,320 Speaker 1: to go back to normal gardening, you know, be and 467 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:03,480 Speaker 1: things like that. There is another thing he might be 468 00:29:03,520 --> 00:29:07,000 Speaker 1: able to do. His neighbors from the old days remember 469 00:29:07,200 --> 00:29:10,880 Speaker 1: something he did very well. They said he made beautiful, 470 00:29:11,480 --> 00:29:15,000 Speaker 1: a grade spirits. He must have had a still set 471 00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:19,880 Speaker 1: up and he could make snaps, brandy and vodka. And 472 00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:22,440 Speaker 1: they said he was very very good at it, ums 473 00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:28,880 Speaker 1: high quality stuff. Perhaps he should become a boutique spirit maker. 474 00:29:29,760 --> 00:29:40,200 Speaker 1: It's all the rage I'd buy his gin. Thanks for listening. 475 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:43,640 Speaker 1: Life and Crimes is a Sunday Herald Sun production for 476 00:29:43,800 --> 00:29:49,040 Speaker 1: true crime Australia. Our producer is Johnty Burton. For my columns, 477 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:53,560 Speaker 1: features and more, go to harold'sun dot com dot au 478 00:29:54,120 --> 00:29:57,080 Speaker 1: forward slash Andrew rule one word. 479 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:02,880 Speaker 3: For advertising inquiries, go to news podcasts sold at. 480 00:30:02,760 --> 00:30:04,160 Speaker 2: News dot com dot au. 481 00:30:05,040 --> 00:30:09,920 Speaker 3: That is all one word news podcasts sold. And if 482 00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:14,360 Speaker 3: you want further information about this episode, links are in 483 00:30:14,680 --> 00:30:15,320 Speaker 3: the description