may have been hoodwinked by a known dealer.

Richard Bernardo will now be sentenced this morning after admitting possessing drug equipment and more than $100,000 worth of cannabis intended for supply.

Olympic sailor Peter Bromby was among several witnesses who claimed a West End drug dealer may have tricked Bernardo into allowing him to keep a freezer full of cannabis in an outside store room at his home on Mangrove Bay Road, Somerset.

Defence lawyer Mark Pettingill and Crown Counsel Peter Eccles both referred to the unnamed dealer, with Mr. Eccles claiming Bernardo, 34, was duped but "not altogether innocent''.

Bernardo's co-accused, room-mate Andrew Sheen, 33, will also be sentenced after admitting to simple charges of possession and cultivation of cannabis.

The pair, busted during a Police raid in September last year, should have been sentenced in Supreme Court yesterday by Puisne Judge Norma Wade-Miller.

But she extended their bail until today, saying: "Both counsel are agreed that there has been a hitch in this matter and something that should have been prepared for the court hasn't been prepared.''