Man who grew £40,000 of cannabis in the loft of his mum’s home in Walton jailed for 18 months

Police raided house Richard Harrison shared with his mum in Queens Drive and discovered 'sophisticated set-up'

A MAN who grew cannabis with a street value of £40,000 in his mum’s loft in Walton was jailed for 18 months.

Police raided the house Richard Harrison, 39, shared with June Boulton, 59, in Queens Drive on February 14 last year.

Liverpool Crown Court heard officers discovered 51 mature cannabis plants in the roof-space, which could have yielded 2kg of female flowering tops.

Rob Jones, prosecuting, said further investigations revealed that £4,000 of electricity had been used illegally at the property.

Harrison, with a shaved head and wearing a grey sweatshirt and black coat in the dock, pleaded guilty to producing a Class B drug and abstracting electricity.

Boulton admitted permitting a premises to be used for the production of cannabis and possessing a prohibited weapon, a CS gas canister.

Neil Gunn, defending, said that Harrison was a heavy cannabis user who used the drug to help his insomnia.

He said his brother died at the age of 17 in his sleep and that contributed to Harrison’s sleeping problems.

Mr Gunn added that the cannabis crop was his first and the offence covered a three-month period.

Osman Munir, defending Boulton, said she was a woman of good character.

However, he said his client had “quite a troubled upbringing” and suffered from mental health problems, a personality disorder and depression as a result of these events.

He said: “She depends on Mr Harrison for support and he is her carer. She is a woman of limited means and she depends on him for daily activities.”

Judge Andrew Hatton said Harrison was responsible for a “relatively sophisticated set-up” and had previous convictions for drug related matters and robbery.

The court heard that at the time of the offence he was serving a nine-month sentence, which had been suspended for two years.

The judge jailed him for 14 months for the new offences and activated four months of this suspended term.

Harrison kissed his mum goodbye on the cheek and said “see you later” as he was led down.

Boulton, with long blonde hair and wearing a black blouse in court, received a community order with 12-months’ supervision.

She was also handed a 16-week home curfew from 6pm to 6am daily.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/man-who-grew-40000-cannabis-8618797 10/02/2015