Danish school caretaker fired for selling homegrown marijuana to youngsters

Finn Ove Nielsen says he is sorry, but thinks the punishment is too harsh

Finn Ove Nielsen had been the caretaker at Vestermark School in North Skerninge on Funen for 25 years until he was fired on Monday for selling homegrown pot to young people from his residence in the city.

“I know that I have done something completely stupid, but I think that the punishment is too tough,” Nielsen told mitfyn.dk. “I don’t think it has anything to do with my work, but the municipality seems to think it does.”

A very caring caretaker
Nielsen’s saga began a year ago when he ran into some unruly children at school. When he met the same kids in town later on, he said that he lectured them on proper behaviour. He claimed that they then asked him where they could buy some cannabis.

He then offered to sell them some of his homegrown from a plant in his backyard that he did not use himself – he said he is not a smoker – but that had produced about 50 grams of dried pot that he kept in a bag.  He sold the weed to the kids about 10 times over a period of a few months, he said.

When the bag was empty, the youngsters stopped coming around, Nielsen said.

READ MORE: High school students say marijuana is no worse than alcohol, expert disagrees

After the Christmas holidays, Nielsen was called into see the headmaster, who had gotten wind of his cannabis trade. Nielsen confessed and has since been questioned by the police and charged with selling drugs.

The janitor contends that the sacking is uncalled for since his illegal dealings happened outside of his working hours.

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