A woman turned her home into a cannabis factory after falling into a drug debt. Hayley Evans from Barry was caught in January last year when police attended her house during a search for a wanted man.
Prosecutor Kirsten Murphy told Cardiff Magistrates' Court: "The officers discovered one of the upstairs bedrooms contained 15 cannabis plants surrounded by silver lining and lighting. In the same room there were 18 discarded bags containing soil and cannabis root balls. A further eight cannabis plants were found in the attic."
The officers found a knotted plastic wrap containing 9.7g of the Class B drug in Evans' bedroom. The 48-year-old, of Maes-Yr-Ysgol, answered "no comment" to most questions in her police interview but later pleaded guilty to producing cannabis between July 2021 and January 2022.
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Carey Bridge, mitigating, said her client had not offended since a 2017 theft, and before that a 2013 burglary. "At that time in her life her drug habit was significant," Ms Bridge added. "That is certainly not the case now. She was involved in this [cannabis growth] because of a drug debt she owed to somebody, so she allowed them to use the property for those plants."
Evans' phone showed she had received texts instructing her to feed the cannabis plants and, in one instance, to check if one was "still dead". Asked if Evans was a cannabis 'gardener', Ms Bridge replied: "She was at a very low level in the scheme of things, because she owed a gentleman money."
The solicitor said Evans' mental health was affected by a childhood surrounded by domestic violence and later becoming a victim in "a similar situation". She added that Evans has been free from drug addiction since 2021 and remains on a methadone program.
District Judge David Webster told Evans that if she had been found guilty after a trial she would likely have gone to prison. But he said her guilty plea and the signs that she had "learned [her] lesson" allowed him to avoid imposing an immediate jail term. The judge handed down a four-month prison sentence suspended for two years. Evans must complete 20 days of rehabilitation activity and pay a £154 victim services surcharge and £150 fine.
Ms Bridge said Evans relies on Universal Credit, to which Judge Webster replied that she could pay at a rate of £30 per month. The drugs and growing equipment will be destroyed. You can read more of the latest Welsh court news here.
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