Oakhill burglar avoids jail after letting his lodger grow cannabis farm in his home  

BURGLAR Jason Cooke allowed his lodger to grow a cannabis farm in his home.

Police found 28 plants worth between £4,400 and £8,100 in one of the bedrooms of the property.

The 38-year-old, of Regent Street, Oakhill, had earlier been stopped by officers who were suspicious about the expensive bicycle he was on.

He told them he had bought it for £250 at a market but officers arrested him and searched his home.

They had to force entry to one of the bedrooms where they found 1.25kg of skunk which Cooke later told them belonged to a lodger he had taken in when he found himself in financial difficulty.

He said he agreed to 'turn a blind eye' to the drugs production for £200 which he never actually received.

Officers also recovered drug paraphernalia and discovered the electricity supply had been bypassed.

They also discovered a second bicycle, two TVs and a Makita drill and case, which were also found to be stolen.

Now Cooke has given a four-month sentence, suspended for 12 months, after pleading guilty to two offences of handling stolen goods and burglary.

He also admitted producing a class B drug, abstracting electricity and permitting his premises to be used for the production of cannabis.

Prosecutor Siobhan Collins said the drill, worth about £130, was taken from a van belonging to Modern Glass between October 4 and October 7.

The TVs, worth £400 each, and the bicycles, with a combined value of £1,800, were stolen from a property in Meir on October 23.

She said: "At 6.50pm on October 25, 2013, police saw the defendant riding an expensive-looking push bike in Hartshill Road.

"This aroused the suspicions of officers. They stopped him and questioned him about the bike.

"He replied he bought at a local market for £250 three weeks ago.

"Police were not satisfied with that so he was arrested and in due course his home address was searched."

Robert Smith, mitigating, said his client was in financial difficulty when the offences were committed after his commission-based work organising charity fire-walking events had dried up.

Highlighting the fact Cooke had not appeared before the courts for 12 years, he said: "He was going to sell the items to raise some money to make ends meet.

"He makes no bones about that but he's ashamed. It's something that leaves him in a serious position in the crown court, potentially looking at prison."

Judge David Pugsley ordered Cooke to do 60 hours of unpaid work and pay £600 costs and an £80 victim surcharge.

Cooke was also made subject to a 12-month supervision order and ordered to complete a programme as recommended in the pre-sentence report.

http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/Oak-Hill-burglar-avoids-jail-letting-lodger-grow/story-21940550-detail/story.html 27/07/2014