Pensby Hotel landlord jailed after allowing £400k cannabis farm to be set up above pub
Shane Blanshard was threatened by drug growers after "whistle blowing" on previous cannabis crop
Shane Blanshard was threatened by drug growers after "whistle blowing" on previous cannabis crop
A pub landlord was jailed for two years after allowing a £400,000 cannabis farm to be set up above his business.
Shane Blanshard, 53, was arrested by police who discovered the factory while on a visit concerning licensing laws .
They found 538 plants in an upstairs flat of the Pensby Hotel , in Ridgewood Drive, Pensby, Wirral , on November 11 last year.
Ken Grant, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that the farm was "fully functioning and sophisticated" and featured 112 lighting rigs and 75 electric transformers.
There were 281 mature plants and the estimated yield was 21.8kg which would be worth between £200,000 and £400,000 at street value.
Blanshard, of Thingwall Road, Irby, pleaded guilty to producing a class B drug.
He has no previous convictions.
Laura Tipping, for Blanshard, said that there was "some element of pressure, intimidation and exploitation" by others after Blanshard had informed police about an earlier cannabis farm.
She said he was forced to allow the farm to be set up in his pub to pay them back and because he feared for his family.
The judge, Mr Recorder Garside, QC, said: "You were the owner of the pub and you must have known where the cannabis farm was.
"I accept that all this happened after you told police about a cannabis farm in premises you were responsible for looking after and thereafter you suffered threats which caused you to allow what happened at the Pensby Hotel to happen.
"All you were trying to do was get those threatening you off your back and pay back a debt they said you owed them because you reported the first cannabis farm."
But he said he should have told the police and jailed the dad-of-four for two years.
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/pensby-hotel-landlord-jailed-after-7856702 30/09/2014
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