A man has been jailed for two years after police discovered 74 cannabis plants growing in his Huddersfield home.
When officers arrived at the address of Simon Burgess in New Laithe Road, Lowerhouses, on April 8 last year he let them in and told them: “You’re going to find there’s a grow.”
Jeremy Lindsay prosecuting told Leeds Crown Court yesterday there was a smell of cannabis and they found four plants growing in a kitchen cupboard. A search upstairs then revealed 70 more plants at various stages of growth in a bedroom with lights and extraction fans.
The officers also seized a black bin liner containing about £6,000 worth of skunk cannabis in the kitchen. A small quantity of cannabis resin was also found.
Mr Lindsay told the court the estimated yield of the plants was around 3.15 kilogrammes with a street value of £27,000.
At the time Burgess tried to claim the bin bag of drugs had just been left at his door but Khaleeq Zaman representing him said he now accepted he was holding on to it for another man who had also pressured him into growing some of the cannabis.
He said in 2004 Burgess suffered a serious head injury while working as a stonemason which he was lucky to survive. He received £50,000 damages and “blew the lot” including regular cannabis use.
Click on the gallery below to see a selection of images showing cannabis factories discovered in Kirklees in recent years
It was when the money became tight he decided to grow his own and was doing so for the first time when he was “prevailed” by a man he did not want to name to grow the plants for him getting a wage and being allowed to keep some for himself.
Burgess, 43 admitted producing cannabis and possessing the drug with intent to supply.
Jailing him the Recorder of Leeds, Judge Peter Collier QC said he had received substantial damages as a result of the accident at work and spent it on an “hedonistic” way of life including purchasing cannabis.
“There came a stage when you decided to grow your own cannabis.” The crown did not dispute that Burgess had then been put under some pressure by another to grow for him but that did not make it any less serious.
“Production of cannabis in these domestic situations is far too common and courts have to make it clear where there is a commercial element there will inevitably be a custodial sentence.”
