Two in court over £500,000 cannabis factory

Two men deny they were part of a group of people in balaclavas seen heading towards a Tadcaster cannabis factory capable of producing nearly £500,000 of the drug.

Nick Adlington. prosecuting, told a jury fingerprints and other evidence linked Carl David Wood and Paul Bray to two white vans that turned off their lights and made off at speed when police spotted them in Tadcaster on the evening of Friday 1 February.

The occupants of the vehicles escaped on foot after abandoning them on residential streets in the town, but left behind a sack containing 5.78 kg of cannabis leaves worth between £41,275 and £57,785 on the street.

An hour later, detectives raided Stutton Grange in Garnet Lane, Tadcaster, where they found 1200 cannabis plants which could produce up to £500,000 of cannabis in street value, and Wood's driving licence on the ground outside.

Bray, 26, of Whitehead Road, Clifton, Swinton, Manchester and Carl David Wood, 27, of St James Street, Farnworth, Bolton, were arrested at their homes and both deny possessing the 5.78 kg of cannabis with intent to supply it to others. Both told police in interviews they were not in Tadcaster on February 1 and knew nothing of the cannabis and activities there.

A third man, Michael Martin, 23, of Meadow Avenue, Clifton, Swinton, Manchester, who was arrested in Tadcaster late on February 1, has pleaded guilty to possessing 5.78 kg of cannabis with intent to supply it to others.

The defence do not dispute any of the prosecution evidence.

Reading agreed facts to the jury at York Crown Court, Mr Adlington said just before 8.30pm on February 1, a member of the public who lived near the grange, saw three men in balaclavas with two white vans heading towards it.

Police spotted the vans at 9pm. The vehicles made off and one was followed to Marlborough Drive where the driver made off through nearby gardens, leaving behind a sack with Paul Bray's fingerprints on it and on bags inside it containing the cannabis leaves.

The other van was abandoned in Dorchester Road nearby with Bray's fingerprints inside. Carl Wood had been seen driving it two hours earlier in Manchester, talking to Martin.

At 10.45pm, police stopped a Manchester taxi with a woman inside in Kirkgate, Tadcaster. She said she had come to collect her boyfriend whose car had broken down and Martin appeared and was arrested. Two Vietnamese were arrested in the grange's gardens.

The trial continues.

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/news/11474728.Two_in_court_over___500_000_cannabis_factory/?ref=mr 16/09/2014