A dad-of-three's cannabis cultivation and dealing operation was discovered after police on foot patrol got whiff of the drug through an open door, a court has heard. When police went into John Cherrington's property they saw it had been given over to the production of the drug with dozens of plants in growing tents, stocks of fertiliser, drying rooms, and a bypassed electricity meter.
The defendant was inside the property when police arrived and initially said he had only just discovered that somebody had been using his newly-rented house to grow cannabis and he was in the process of dismantling the farm. But text messages found on the 42-year-old's phone – along with a large number of unexplained payments into his bank account – revealed the truth.
Swansea Crown Court heard the drugs operation was discovered in July 2020 by officers on patrol in Iscoed Road in Hendy near Pontarddulais. Sian Cutter, prosecuting, said officers smelled cannabis coming from the open door of a house in the street and when they looked inside they saw a number of cannabis growing tents. Two people were arrested in the property – Cherrington and a teenager – and another two males ran off and have never been traced.
