Jailed: £23,000 cannabis producer busted after running into police at another Telford raid

Martins Brokans, aged 41, arrived at an address in Trench, Telford, which was in the process of being raided by officers. He told police he was just there to visit a friend, but they did not believe his story.

Shrewsbury Crown Court heard that officers searched Brokans and the Volkswagen Passat he arrived in and found “plant boosters” and nutrient supplements to speed up the growth of cannabis.

Brokans was arrested there and then on October 13, 2019, and gave his address as another property in Trench. Officers visited, but found the place was empty.

The Passat was registered to an address in Linley Drive, Stirchley, Telford – where Brokans’ partner lived. Police attended and could smell a “strong odour” of cannabis.

Brokans’ partner did not have a key to the garage, so officers broke in to find 22 plants with lighting and foil insulation in what was described as “a relatively sophisticated grow” by Judge Stephen Thomas at Brokans’s sentencing.

The plants, which weighed 1.8kg, would have had a street value of £18,480. Police also found 10 packs of cut cannabis that contained a bag with 0.5kg of the drug – worth £5,020. There was also a notepad containing notes relating to cannabis growth, £1,500 in cash hidden in a wardrobe and lights and piping for drug producing in a BMW.

Brokans, of Teagues Crescent, Trench, Telford, pleaded guilty to one count of producing a Class B drug. His defence advocate told the court Brokans had “done a stupid thing for which he is sorry”.

Judge Stephen Thomas jailed Brokans for 54 weeks. He told Brokans: “This was an operation which would have resulted in financial profits and you would have known that. You would have conducted that business knowing the risks attached to it. Bearing in mind the seriousness of the offences, an immediate custodial sentence in the only one which can be justified.”

He also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the cannabis plants and equipment seized.