An arrest warrant was issued Wednesday for John Hardy of Ingramport after he failed to show up for trial on drug charges.But the warrant won’t be acted upon until he returns from Thailand.Mr. Hardy, 50, and David Banfield, 42, of Upper Tantallon, were to begin a four-day trial in Amherst provincial court on drug charges. But Mr. Hardy’s lawyer, Jim O’Neil, told the court his client didn’t show up because of a miscommunication between himself and Mr. Hardy."He is working in the jungles of Asia," Mr. O’Neil said. "He lost track of the trial date because he was so used to me appearing on his behalf through a designation I received from him. He thought today’s (hearing) was for a motion and not for a trial."I accept responsibility for that. It was an honestly held misunderstanding on his part."Mr. Hardy won’t be back in Canada before July 8 because that is the earliest his company is willing to fly him out, Mr. O’Neil said, asking for an adjournment.Mr. Banfield’s lawyer, Mark Knox, asked that his client’s trial be postponed as well because it was essential this client’s defence to have Mr. Hardy present for the trial."I find it difficult to understand how someone could forget their trial date," Judge Carole Beaton said. "I do not want to make light of it, but it’s akin to a student telling his teacher that the ‘dog ate my homework.’ "Judge Beaton said Mr. Hardy bore some responsibility failing to appear.His absence put Mr. Banfield in a difficult position because "it would be prejudicial to his case if we were to go ahead today" without Mr. Hardy being present, she said.The case has been delayed several times since the charges were laid in 2005, and the judge said Mr. Hardy’s absence made it difficult for the court to find time for the trial.She set Oct. 7 to 10 as the new trial dates and ordered the arrest warrant. She ordered Mr. Hardy to appear for a pretrial conference in July and told Mr. O’Neil that "feast, famine, flood or insurrection by the Queen’s enemies" had better not keep Mr. Hardy from the pretrial conference or the new court dates.Mr. Hardy and Mr. Banfield were charged in October 2005 after the RCMP caught two people working a marijuana crop in Wentworth Valley. Police subsequently searched two Wentworth properties, where more than 1,000 plants were seized.The men face charges of possessing more than three kilograms of marijuana for the purpose of trafficking, producing marijuana and theft of less than $5,000 worth of electricity.
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