Published date: 14 March 2016 |
Published by: Staff reporterRead more articles by Staff reporterEmail reporter
Electrician Stewart Cardno claimed that the cannabis he was growing in his loft was all for his own use.
He said that he had been using cannabis since the age of 15 and was a very heavy user.
But police estimated the maximum potential value of the yield of the 23 plants recovered to be more than £19,000.
Cardno, aged 30, of Marion Road in Prestatyn, admitted possessing and producing cannabis at the local magistrates’ court where his claim that it was all for his own use was rejected.
Magistrates said that there were too many plants and that there must have been a commercial element.
They sent him for sentence to Mold Crown Court – but he escaped an immediate prison sentence.
The judge, Mr Recorder Timothy Petts, gave him a 14 month prison sentence suspended for 18 months and sent him on a drugs rehabilitation course run by the probation service, with regular court reviews.
He must carry out 200 hours unpaid work and pay £340 costs.
On average it was estimated that the cannabis yield could be worth about £13,000, the judge said.
He had argued, and failed, that it was all for his own use.
“This was a large amount of cannabis. Unsurprisingly, the magistrates took the view that there was a commercial element.
Worryingly, in 2009, he had received a lengthy prison sentence for possession of class A drugs with intent to supply and that was an aggravating feature.
But he was in employment in a responsible job as an electrician, would lose his job if he went into custody, and he was assessed as a low risk of re-offending.
He had regarded his arrest as “a wakeup call” and had since reduced his consumption of cannabis.
The judge warned that the starting point in sentence was 12 months with a range of between 26 weeks and three years.
The pre-sentence report said that he could be safely managed in the community and on balance he had decided to suspend the sentence to give him a chance to make good his promise that it was something that he had now put behind him.
Prosecuting barrister Sam Aynsley said that police found the 23 plants in the loft of the defendant’s home.
It was estimated that the yield on the street could be valued at anything between £6,440 and £19,320.
Defending barrister Sarah Yates said that her client had been a heavy user of cannabis since the age of 15.
He started to cultivate his own because he was spending between £150 and £200 a week on the drug.
It was not the most sensible, logical or well thought out thing to do but his use had escalated after his separation from his long term partner and his baby son was taken seriously ill.
The defendant was a self-employed electrician who had a substantial contract with a large company.
He was very remorseful for the position he had put himself in, she said, and suggested a suspended prison sentence.
see-http://www.rhyljournal.co.uk/news/159729/prestatyn-electrician-grew-cannabis-with-potential-value-of-more-than-13-000.aspx
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