Man guilty of cannabis farming on grand scale

The man behind one of Cambridgeshire's biggest cannabis factories has been found guilty.

David Gorman, 54, who the prosecution said set up the business and paid rent on the Huntingdon premises, denied producing a controlled drug but was found guilty after a trial.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Gorman, of Nazeing, Essex, and three of his employees were involved in "production on a grand scale" between June 1, 2011 and February 2, 2012.

Marti Blair, Crown advocate of the East of England CPS, said: "This was cannabis production as a major commercial enterprise.

"A three-storey industrial unit in Glebe Road, Huntingdon, was used to grow thousands of cannabis plants and when Cambridgeshire police searched the premises in February this year, they found more than 700 plants and more than 1,550 cuttings in various rooms over two floors, with an estimated street value of between £650,000 and £950,000.

"This was actually the second harvest so we are looking at production on a grand scale in just one building."

Vincent Gillett, 34, of Grays, Essex, who acted as the manager of day to day operations, Mark Larios, 43, of Grays, Essex, the head gardener, and Matthew Prill, 34, of Kingsbridge, Devon, who was brought in to help tend the plants, all pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to producing a controlled drug.

At Peterborough Crown Court, sentencing was adjourned to November 28.

Miss Blair said: "Cambridgeshire police carried out a detailed investigation and uncovered mobile phone calls between the men, financial transactions for electrical equipment to help grow the plants, and rental for the unit, all linking these men to the large scale production of cannabis."

Det Con Andrew Gaunt-Warner, who led the police inquiry, said: "These men used an industrial unit and set it up in such a way that they thought it would not be detected by police.

"It was producing cannabis that would have been sold at a region-wide level and we know they had been operating there since May of last year.

"This should be a warning to others producing cannabis who think they can escape detection: you will be discovered and brought to justice."

http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk 23/10/2012