When Brian Borland stood before a jury defending himself on cannabis charges he told them they had no option but to find him guilty and send him to jail. 

Now, that’s exactly where Judge Philip Rzepecky has sent the 68-year-old cannabis advocate - for 18 months - saying it was hard to take his stance seriously. 

“What you were up to was a ramshackle hopeless operation ... in my view, it was a hopeless misguided hobby of a dreamer. 

“You’re on a cannabis windmill, and it’s hard to take your stance seriously.” 

Borland appeared in the Whangārei District Court on Friday for sentencing on three charges relating to cultivating and dealing cannabis over two properties in the Northland area on separate occasions. 

In November 2022, police attempted to pull over a car in Dargaville when the driver pulled into a property in Bassett St. 

When Senior Constable Wendy McDermott got out of her car to question the driver, she noticed Borland darting around the property, moving things behind the garage. 

McDermott found eight cannabis plants in early germination and, when she asked Borland whose they were, he responded: “Mine.” 

“Why are you growing cannabis?” she asked. 

“Because it’s too expensive to buy and there’s no reason in the world people shouldn’t be able to use cannabis,” Borland responded. 

He was charged in connection with the 45 plants found at the site. 

In January 2023, he set up a company named Roaring Lion Canna Enterprises, with himself as the sole director, alongside a Facebook page that began actively advertising the sale of cannabis and cannabis seeds. 

A year after the Dargaville bust, and following an anonymous tip-off, police searched his latest residence in Totara North, where they found 52 plants and more than 600g of cannabis in various locations. 

‘It’s jail or nothing’ 

He was charged again, pleaded not guilty and represented himself at a jury trial before Judge Philip Rzepecky in July this year, where a jury of 10 women and two men found him guilty on all charges. 

In his closing statements, he submitted a request not often heard from a defendant. 

“I don’t know what else you can do but find me guilty but the laws need to be changed and why I took these actions was simply to defy the law,” Borland said. 

“It’s jail or nothing.” 

Crown lawyer Geraldine Kelly submitted at sentencing the starting point should be five years, which Judge Philip Rzepecky rejected. 

“People are almost killed and don’t get that sort of sentence,” Judge Rzepecky said. 

Kelly said the Government had put a tariff on sentences for this type of offending, to which Judge Rzepecky responded “I don’t think so”. 

“This defendant has been to prison before and has been given sentences of this type and he’s still doing it,” Kelly said. 

Borland was given an opportunity to read a statement that echoed his staunch views on cannabis legislation. 

“All I have to offer is honesty, it is true, I was involved in cannabis. I am the only victim,” Borland said. 

Daktory Whangarei spokesman Brian Borland at a cannabis law protest outside Whangārei Courthouse. Photo / NZME 

Borland said he had lived an honest life and of the 800,000 cannabis users in New Zealand, only 6% were obtaining cannabis through legal sources. 

“I took this matter to Parliament and they ignored a more common sense, practical approach. 

“I believe jail is to protect the public and I would like an explanation of the danger I impose,” Borland submitted. 

‘A ramshackle hopeless operation’ 

Judge Rzepecky was critical of Borland’s insistence on pushing his stance. 

“You see yourself as a martyr and that the consequences of your offending may change the law. 

“While you’re the most benign, polite man and conducted yourself with dignity at your trial, you really didn’t pose a defence and really, my day in court was a waste of time,” Judge Rzepecky said. 

Judge Rzepecky acknowledged the only option was prison as Borland had shown he was unable to comply with any community-based sentence. 

“What you were up to was a ramshackle hopeless operation. Although you were candid about what you were doing, it’s not entirely convincing it was at the high value the Crown have tried to submit and I don’t accept what you were doing was a commercial operation. 

“In my view, it was the misguided hobby of a dreamer.” 

Borland was jailed for 18 months. 

Shannon Pitman is a Whangārei-based Open Justice reporter, covering courts in the Te Tai Tokerau region. She is of Ngāpuhi/ Ngāti Pūkenga descent and has worked in digital media for the past five years. She joined NZME in 2023.