Restaurant couple win bail over dope plants
An American restaurateur and his pregnant wife were charged yesterday with cultivating cannabis plants in the rooftop garden of their Sai Kung home.
Anthony Blair Sweet, 45, and Carmelita Cruz Sweet, 30, were arrested on Tuesday after police discovered 32 pots of cannabis plants in their rooftop garden in Sai Kung. Twenty-two of the plants were more than a metre high.
No plea was taken when they appeared in Kwun Tong Court yesterday.
Sweet is the owner of Anthony's Catch, a Sai Kung restaurant famed for its imported seafood.
He breathed a huge sigh of relief when Principal Magistrate Kwok Wai-kin granted the couple bail after being told the restaurant could not operate without him.
Objecting to bail, the prosecutor said he was worried Sweet might be tempted to leave Hong Kong because he had a US passport.
But lawyer David Boyton said Sweet would not be tempted to leave his pregnant wife and business behind.
Mr Boyton said the couple had been trying to conceive for many years and had had a number of miscarriages before resorting to in vitro fertilisation.
'[Mrs Sweet] is now six months pregnant,' Mr Boyton said. '[Mr Sweet] has lived in Hong Kong for over 10 years, married a Hong Kong girl ... runs his own company with an investment of more than $2 million - without him the restaurant would shut down.
'He has no reason to leave Hong Kong with his work here, his life here and his wife here.'
Mr Boyton also noted the charge carried a relatively light sentence.
'The charge is different from a trafficking charge as the plants found at this stage were only herbs, that had not been processed into the drug,' Mr Boyton said.
As well as cultivating cannabis, the couple were charged with obstructing a police officer.
Mr Kwok set bail at $100,000 for Sweet and $25,000 for his wife.
