Lucy Nguyen admitted to assisting in watering and attending to the cannabis plants growing inside the Keating Court house.

Ballarat Divisional Response Unit police members searched the home on December 11 to allegedly find 183 cannabis plants in five rooms that had been remodelled. 

The house had allegedly been elaborately set up, with the property’s electricity supply diverted after it was leased in October, resulting in $14,186 stolen electricity.

Nguyen and her co-accused Ba Ngo were arrested at the house during the raid. Nguyen was charged with five offences, including cultivating and possessing cannabis in a commercial quantity.

She pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of cultivating simpliciter at the Ballarat Magistrates Court on Thursday.

Magistrate Ron Saines agreed to hear the case, instead of referring it to the County Court, after defence lawyer Chen Yang successfully applied for a summary jurisdiction.

Mr Yang said his client assisted Ngo for two days but was not the mastermind behind the grow house. He said her DNA and fingerprints were not found on any of the equipment inside the grow house.

“Ms Nguyen assisted the watering and attending to the plants,” Mr Yang said.

Nguyen has spent 129 days in custody.

Ngo will front court at a later date.