{"id":537298,"date":"2026-07-21T18:40:34","date_gmt":"2026-07-21T18:40:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/537298\/"},"modified":"2026-07-21T18:40:34","modified_gmt":"2026-07-21T18:40:34","slug":"historic-church-building-seized-from-cannabis-grower-now-for-sale-all-things-property-under-oneroof","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/537298\/","title":{"rendered":"Historic church building seized from cannabis grower now for sale, All things property, under OneRoof"},"content":{"rendered":"

A historic church building is on the market for sale<\/a> after the Crown seized it from a convicted cannabis grower.<\/p>\n

Stephen Craig Alexander challenged the seizure of three properties, including the former St John\u2019s Anglican Sunday school building in Winchester, Canterbury, but the Supreme Court ruled against him in April.<\/p>\n

The court heard that Alexander spent at least $242,000 more than his declared income from benefits amounting to between $213 and $269 per week. <\/p>\n

A police raid on Alexander\u2019s properties in 2017 found 88 cannabis plants in multiple grow rooms, including 22 seedlings in Alexander\u2019s bedroom.<\/p>\n

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Alexander subsequently pled guilty to several drug charges and was sentenced to six months\u2019 community detention.<\/p>\n

A review of his bank statements by police led to further proceedings in the High Court and the forfeiture of his properties and a sum of cash. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

The Crown also seized a neighbouring villa at 5 North Street. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Lot 1\/5 North Street can be bought separately or with the two other properties. Photo \/ Supplied<\/p>\n

Alexander claimed undue hardship and fought the judgement all the way to the Supreme Court, but lost.<\/p>\n

The properties include a former Sunday school building 7 North Street, in Winchester<\/a>, a four-bedroom villa at 5 North Street<\/a> and an 800sqm vacant section<\/a>.<\/p>\n

All three are being sold \u201cas is, where is\u201d, and can be bought individually or together.<\/p>\n

Harcourts listing agent Jill Bennett has pitched the properties, which have a combined RV of $460,000, to renovators and developers.<\/p>\n

Discover:<\/p>\n

– How a silver and gold coin worth $10 cost one Canterbury family their home<\/a><\/p>\n

– Shrek director Andrew Adamson quietly selling his $11m Grey Lynn pad<\/a><\/p>\n

– Richie McCaw house sale price revealed as agents weigh in on celeb homes<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWhether you\u2019re looking to renovate, redevelop, remove and rebuild, or secure a landholding with future potential, these properties present a range of possibilities. Purchase all properties together for a larger-scale project or buy individually to suit your plans. Explore the options and unlock the potential of this unique offering.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bennett told OneRoof that she received 19 emails about the properties within 12 hours of listing them. <\/p>\n

Local Winchester historian Alan Patrick told OneRoof that the church building was the old St John\u2019s Anglican church Sunday school. The neighbouring church was removed in 1972 and moved to the nearby Waihi Preparatory School.<\/p>\n

Patrick added that the villa at 5 North Street, was built by Daniel Inwood, a local flour mill owner, in 1873. The mill was called Winchester Mill after Inwood\u2019s birthplace, Winchester, in England, and the town was named after the mill.<\/p>\n

The historian, who lives near the properties now for sale, said he witnessed one of the police raids on the properties. <\/p>\n

– Click here to find more properties for sale in Canterbury<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A historic church building is on the market for sale after the Crown seized it from a convicted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":537299,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1258,111,43,139,69],"class_list":["post-537298","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-latest-news","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537298","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=537298"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/537298\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/537299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=537298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=537298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=537298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}