East Lancs car repair boss jailed over £24k drugs farm
A CAR repair boss set up a potential £24,000 cannabis farm in an old lift shaft at Vine Mill in Oswaldtwistle.
A CAR repair boss set up a potential £24,000 cannabis farm in an old lift shaft at Vine Mill in Oswaldtwistle.
Nicholas Whittaker, 50, had 44 mature plants growing in zipped-together tents in an underground service area, as well as 54 seedlings and had learned how to do it on the internet.
He was caught after workmen came across the find and was to tell police he had been a burglary victim six months before, had suffered financially and someone suggested it would be a way out of his problems.
Burnley Crown Court was told Whittaker, said to have no relevant convictions, was now facing a proceeds of crime hearing.
The defendant, of Sussex Close, Church, had admitted producing cannabis and had been committed for sentence by magistrates.
He was given 20 months in prison, suspended for two years, with 180 hours unpaid work.
Mark Lamberty, prosecuting, said that the workmen found the cannabis farm on January 7.
http://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk 25/06/2014
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