Cannabis smoker banned from shed

A man caught using his garden shed to cultivate cannabis has been banned from setting foot inside it by a judge.

Confirmed cannabis smoker Simon Redclift, 53, is faced with having his custom-made wooden shed dismantled and removed completely.

Teetotal Redclift appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on Tuesday after admitting two drug-related charges. Judge David Wynn Morgan released him on bail but banned him from entering his garden shed as a condition attached to his release. He warned he was considering an order to have the shed removed completely, or a ban preventing him ever setting foot inside again.

Redclift, who is married and a father, lives at Sir Ivor Place, Dinas Powys, south Wales, and will be sentenced at Cardiff on June 25.

Police raided the garden shed in August last year and found five mature and 32 immature plants believed to worth up to £20,000. Redclift, who is unemployed, has a series of previous convictions for growing cannabis at home.

A Cardiff Crown Court listings officer confirmed Redclift had admitted producing cannabis and possession of cannabis with intent to supply. She confirmed the judge had set a bail condition banning him from going inside his shed and is considering a confiscation order.

The court had previously heard that Redclift used cannabis as a calmative to help control anxiety attacks. He claims that he has rid himself of his long-term cannabis habit and had begun dismantling the £800 shed with the help of friends.

Speaking to WalesOnline after the hearing on Tuesday, he described the 14-year-old shed as "a room for all the family over the years. It was not just a shed that I put up and adapted to put cannabis in."

He said that the shed was also used as a place to relax and watch DVDs, while smoking cannabis. He added he would accept his bail condition: "If it satisfies the judge, it's something that I'm prepared to do. I'm not going to cultivate again."

But he remains opposed to any decision to dismantle the shed completely, saying: "I don't really see what it proves. If I wanted to continue growing I could do it in my attic, I could do it in the back garden, I could do it in a cupboard - it's just a waste of my shed."

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk 19/06/2013