Shropshire cannabis factory pair get jail terms
Two men from Shropshire have been sentenced to more than five years in prison for their part in a "sophisticated" £1 million cannabis factory found hidden behind hay bales at a farm.
Ian Locke, 63, of Pine Trees, Newport, and Martin Young, 51, of Farm Lodge Grove, Telford, were arrested after detectives uncovered the operation at a farm in Newchurch, near Burton-on-Trent, in March 2015.
A tractor had to be used to move the hay bales – and it uncovered the extent of the growing operation, with a significant amount of "skunk" cannabis and thousands of pounds of cash seized, Stafford Crown Court was told.
A series of secret rooms were completely concealed by hay bales and contained hundreds of cannabis plants.
Forensic scientists estimated that the plants seized had the capacity to produce 60.5kg of "skunk" cannabis a year which equated to a street value of £432,142.
Locke, Young, and a third man, Raymond Nicholls, 64, from Birmingham, all pleaded guilty to the cultivation of cannabis and possession with intent to supply the drug.
Locke received two years and three months while Young was jailed for three years and two months.
Nicholls was released on bail due to a medical condition and will reappear at court on a future date to be sentenced.
A detailed investigation established that the factory had been operational for at least two years and it was evident that plans were under way to extend the business by constructing further rooms, the court was told.
Recorder Michael Elsom said all three men had played various parts in what he described as a "deliberate, well-thought out and executed plan to run a sophisticated cannabis factory" at the farm.
Young, Locke and Nicholls, had all denied offences of possession of criminal monies. The prosecution did not seek a trial and Recorder Elsom ruled that the charges should lie on the file.
Mr Nicholas Tatlow, prosecuting, said a tractor was needed to remove the hay bales, which revealed the entrance to "numerous growing and drying rooms".
He said Young had been the tenant at the farm since 2009, paying £28,000 a year rent, and was running a business breeding shire horses. Locke and Nicholls had rooms at the farm house and all three men were at the property at the time of the police raid.
Officers found about 400 plants at various growing stages.
The court heard Locke claimed to be at the premises for four or five weeks and that £27,000 that went through his account was for work as a gardener and painter and decorator.
Young was said to have been motivated by financial gain to maintain payments at the farm and was aware of the scale of the drugs operation but had been put under pressure and was in "fear" of others.
All the defendants are subject to confiscation applications under the Proceeds of Crime Act and will be considered at a hearing later this year.
Chief Inspector Rob Neeson of Staffordshire Police said: "A cannabis factory of this scale and sophistication is very unusual.
We welcome the outcome."