Bipolar cannabis dealer gets two-year suspended sentence
THE bipolar father of a convicted drug dealer has received a two-year suspended jail sentence for growing cannabis.
THE bipolar father of a convicted drug dealer has received a two-year suspended jail sentence for growing cannabis.
Brian Roberts, 57, of Silverdale Road, Falmouth, was arrested for growing 114 cannabis plants with a potential street value of more than £60,000 at his house.
Roberts' sophisticated operation was discovered during a raid by police last April when his son, Joseph, was found with cannabis worth up to £527 in his bedroom.
Robin Smith, for the defence, told Truro Crown Court that Roberts was an "unusual, unique character" who primarily grew it for personal consumption. He had previously pleaded guilty to producing a Class B drug.
Mr Smith said Roberts was an "extreme perfectionist" who worked in an "obsessive way" due to suffering from bipolar disorder - also known as manic depression - and the set-up's sophistication reflected this.
Yield
Emily Pitts, for the CPS, said the potential yield was enough for eight years' personal use and there was a "significant element of commercial benefit" to the operation.
Suspending his sentence for two years, Judge Christopher Harvey Clark, QC, told Roberts: "I am satisfied that the primary purpose was for personal consumption but you were trying to supplement your limited income by selling cannabis to others. In a normal case I would be sending you to prison today. Growing cannabis in this country is a criminal offence."
He said the defendant was "genuinely remorseful" and he would be "troubled" if he sent Roberts to prison, based on medical evidence.
At Truro Crown Court in February, Joseph admitted possession of 52 grams of cannabis, worth £527, with intent to supply.
He said he stole the drug from his father's workshop whenever the door was left unlocked.
He was given a 12-month community order involving a four-month electronically tagged curfew and ordered to pay £150 costs.
http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk 11/07/2013
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