A private tenant has been spared an immediate jail sentence, after he was caught growing a huge amount of cannabis, which the prosecution said would be worth in the region of £155,400 if illegally sold.
James Graves, 26, who was renting the property, was interviewed by the police and charged after the discovery on 13 May 2019. He was given a 30-week suspended sentence for 18 months, ordered to undertake 120 hours of unpaid work, 15 days of a rehabilitation order and instructed to pay £1,200 in costs.
A letting agent unexpectedly discovered the cannabis factory when visiting the property following complaints about noise from neighbours.
Residents had moaned about sounds coming from the house in Oak Road, Rivenhall, Essex, and when the property worker arrived, they found the upstairs floor had been converted into a cannabis factory.
Chelmsford Crown Court was told that police officers found 185 juvenile cannabis plants, while preparations had been put in place to kit out further rooms.
Hannah Gladwell, prosecuting, said if sold in grams the potential yield of the Class B drugs could have fetched an eye-watering £155,400.
Madeleine Deasy, mitigating, told the court Graves, of Elwes Close, Colchester, had turned to cocaine and alcohol to deal with tragedy he faced in his life.
She said: “His life has not been characterised by criminality. He has lived a positive and productive life.
“His addiction to cocaine and reliance on alcohol [was] an answer to his grief.
“This is an isolated incident, a one-off for Mr Graves. He had not previously and has not since been involved in such offending.
“He saw participating in this cultivation as a quick fix for his debts.”
The court heard Graves has since become clean of his drug addiction and alcohol dependency.
Judge Timothy Godfrey told Graves “What you did was involve yourself in a significant drug production.
“That serious criminality undoubtedly crosses the custody threshold, but I accept you had substantial difficulties in your personal life.”
Was he evicted?
I don’t understand why the energy providers can’t notify the Police about an unusually large spike in energy consumption.
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Was there any damage to the property?
What does Shelter have to say about this poor chap, simply trying to make a living the best way he can being victimised by the evil letting agent?
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Because the Country has become Data Protection – Woke.
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“Hannah Gladwell, prosecuting, said if sold in grams the potential yield of the Class B drugs could have fetched an eye-watering £155,400. [However, his outstanding electric bill is over £180,000.]”
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Which won’t get paid by tenant and will be picked up by the rest of us.
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do these defence solicitors get selected for their legal or acting skills?
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