A cannabis farmer has avoided jail after nearly 120 plants worth up to £45,000 were discovered at his Tyneside home.
Grandfather Ian Howard, who has 70 offences on his record, including two for cultivating the class B drug, had been growing his illegal crop across three bedrooms at his house, in North Shields, when police searched it in December 2021. As well as 119 plants, officers also discovered cans and adhesive labels, which were linked to packaging the cannabis, in a cupboard in his utility room, a court heard.
The 53-year-old initially claimed he'd set up the farm, which involved the relevant heating, lighting, ventilation and plant food, in order to make cannabis oil for himself. However, he later conceded that he had too many plants to be consistent with just personal use.
Howard, of Wark Avenue, in North Shields, has now avoided an immediate stint behind bars after he pleaded guilty to producing cannabis at Newcastle Crown Court. Giving him an 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, Judge Amanda Rippon said: "You have been in this position before in 2003 and 2007.
"I have not the slightest doubt that you were told by the court then, as I am telling you now, that it's illegal to grow cannabis. You may think that it's just medicine for yourself but it's actually a harmful drug if it gets out on the street.
"It leads to young people going on to more serious drugs. It also causes mental health harm to those who take it. The long-term effects of cannabis use are well-documented now. You keep smoking it at your peril. If you keep doing it, you will go to prison."
The court heard that police executed a search warrant at Howard's home on Wark Avenue on December 3 2021 and found 119 cannabis plants at varying stages of growth in the three bedrooms upstairs. Neil Pallister, prosecuting, said the potential yield of the crop was between £10,500 and £45,000.
Adhesive labels, showing a gorilla and the letters CA, and cans, which were linked to the packaging of the drug, were also discovered in Howard's utility room. Mr Pallister added: "It was a well set-up operation with heating, lighting, ventilation, fans and plant foods."
Shaun Routledge, defending, said Howard had grown the cannabis to make oil for medicinal reasons for himself but accepted there was too much to be consistent with personal use. Mr Routledge added: "He's not a risk of harm to the public."
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