Lush Food Company boss grew large cannabis crop at Barnstaple home
Jason Clark of Lush Foods has been convicted of growing £22,000 worth of cannabis
Jason Clark of Lush Foods has been convicted of growing £22,000 worth of cannabis
A NORTH DEVON catering company boss was caught with £22,000 of cannabis after a sharp-nosed police officer sniffed out his secret growing room.
Barnstaple man Jason Clark runs the Lush Food catering company, a successful outside catering firm in North Devon but was also a heavy cannabis user who had started installed a sophisticated cultivation system in his Barnstaple home.
He had converted a room hidden behind a bar in his living room from a home gym into a cannabis farm with 51 plants, six high powered lights and extractor fans.
The two kilogram crop was worth an estimated £22,000 if sold on the streets but he insisted he was going to smoke it all himself, even though it would have taken him six years.
Clark’s Woolacombe-based catering company supplies food to The Jube pub in the town.
It organises outside events and he risked losing his business and his home if he was sent to jail.
He received a suspended sentence after a Judge at Exeter Crown Court noted that the police and CPS had not charged him with drug dealing despite finding scales in his kitchen and a message on a phone which referred to someone wanting "a large quantity of herb".
Clark, aged 40, of Carlyle Avenue, Barnstaple, admitted production of cannabis and was jailed for two years, suspended for two years, and ordered to do 240 hours unpaid community work.
Judge Phillip Wassall said: "A police officer who was in the area on a completely unrelated matter smelled the scent of cannabis coming from under your door. I am not surprised when you look at what was found.
“There was an area which had formerly been a gym measuring 2.2 by 3.7 metres where cannabis was growing and which was professionally lit and properly vented and clearly set up with a view to producing a large amount of cannabis.
“It had a yield in the region of £22,000 and even if consumed by a high end user would take 6.2 years to use.
“I accept it was for your own use but with such a gross over production the temptation to supply is high and the rewards are great, although there is no suggestion you did so.”
Eleanor Purkis, for the prosecution, said a female officer who was visiting homes in Barnstaple to offer reassurance after a nearby burglary noticed a strong smell and Clark’s house was searched.
She said: "A cannabis growing room was found in the basement secreted behind a drinks bar and disguised to blend in with the surrounding.
“A mobile phone on the bedside table had a single text message which referred to putting the user in touch with someone who wanted a large quantity of herb. Two sets of scales were found in the kitchen.”
Richard Crabb, for the defence, said Clark had set up the operation in a room which had been a home gym and had no idea it would produce such a huge crop.
He said he has always worked in the hotel and catering industry and set up his own firm which equips and runs pub kitchens and pays rent to the landlords.
He has a daughter of seven who he is in regular contact with.
Mr Crabb said Clark has been a regular user of cannabis for many years but has now given up as a result of this case.
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