Burglars put Wolverhampton cannabis grower in jail

Police alerted by neighbours to a break in found a lucrative cannabis farm at the one bed room flat, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

The burglars had stripped 40 pots of skunk that had been under cultivation in the living room of the property in Cannock Road, Park Village, explained Mr Nicholas Smith, prosecuting.

But a further 90 fledgling plants were still being grown in the bedroom in an operation capable of producing a drug crop worth up to £64,000, it was said.

The property was unsecure and empty when the officers arrived. Adrian Howell claimed to have been away at the coast for a few days but insisted that he was living there.

Mr Smith retorted: "You were not. All the space was taken up with cannabis plants. It would have been incredibly hot and the smell must have been overwhelming.This was purely to grow cannabis."

The defendant maintained the drugs were for his own use despite expert evidence that it would have taken him at least four years to smoke.

Unemployed Howell claimed that it was the first crop he had tried to cultivate and conceded: "I might have gone a bit over the top with it."

He said he was a heavy user and explained: "I suffer from depression and anxiety. The cannabis relaxes me and sorts me out.

"I used to buy it on the street but it cost me a fortune. I couldn't afford it and thought it would be better to grow my own. But it wasn't because I am in court."

Mr David Iles, defending, said none of the normal paraphernalia of drug dealing - such as dealer lists, scales, cash and mobile phones - were found at the address after the July 28 break in.

Howell from Cannock Road, Park Village pleaded guilty to producing cannabis but his claim that it was for his own use was dismissed by Recorder Stephen Thomas who declared:

"What the police found was a property that had been turned over to the production of cannabis. It was a reasonably sophisticated operation and a fair amount of work had gone into setting it up

"He was a heavy user and if this was his first crop he would not have set up an enterprise of this size. Nor would anybody intending it to be for their personal use. Rather than it being an asset to his life, this was his life.

"The plan was to keep some for himself while the rest was used to defray the cost of production and assist the defendant financially." Howell, who had several previous convictions, was jailed for 20 months.