Woman spared jail on her dad's 60th birthday

Clare Davies, from Trowbridge, Cardiff, grew £21,000 worth of cannabis in her home, court told

A father spent his 60th birthday watching his daughter get a suspended sentence at Cardiff Crown Court for turning her house into a cannabis factory.

Clare Davies, 29, had plants worth over £21,000 at her mortgaged property in Trowbridge Green, Trowbridge, Cardiff, and admitted illegal drug production.

Giving her a 26-week jail term suspended as long as she does 150 hours unpaid community work, Judge Daniel Williams said it was bewildering why someone her age, with an impeccable background - working with a company supplying orthopaedic shoes to the disabled - would embark on such a scheme.

"This was a relatively sophisticated set up [with lights and other growing equipment] but there was an early guilty plea and I will spare you prison," he told her.

"If there had been a trial, I would have been imposing a custodial sentence of nine months."

James Lewis, defending, said Davies had been a cannabis user but being taken to court had been frightening enough to stop her taking it.

She'd had a "traumatic" time in 2013, needing lifesaving surgery, having her house burgled and then her car stolen.

"She fell into depression," he told the court.

"She has a mortgage to pay and is repaying a loan to her parents. She has no experience whatsoever of the criminal justice system. She does have an extremely supportive family. As fate would have it, it's her father's 60th today and prison would impact not only on her but others as well."

Police found the plants when they executed a drugs search warrant in January.

Prosecutor David Pugh said: "They found a three-bedroom house where the rear upstairs room had plastic sheeting on the walls, floor and ceiling, 10 halogen lights and watering and extraction systems. There were 10 mature cannabis plants there and a further 10 younger ones in the airing cupboard.

"Officers estimated the potential yield from them all would have been £21,400.

"She told them she was a heavy user herself and a friend had helped her set it up."

Davies will return to court for a Proceeds of Crime hearing in October.

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/woman-spared-jail-dads-60th-7509219 26/07/2014