Telford cannabis grower, 40, is jailed
A home grown cannabis factory found at a house in Telford was capable of producing up to £60,000 of the drug, a court has been told.
Stephen Boyle, 40, of Mercian Drive, Leegomery, was today jailed for 15 months after he admitted, at an earlier hearing, the production of the Class B drug.
Miss Jo Barker, prosecuting, said when police went to Boyle's home in November last year, they found 65 cannabis plants along with a hydroponic growing system.
She said the plants had been eight to 10 weeks from harvest and would have yielded cannabis worth between £5,000 and £20,000.
The plants would have been capable of two more harvests, she said.
Mr Dean Easthope, for Boyle, said his client had cannabis and cocaine habits costing him £180 a week. He had lost his job and needed money to send to his daughters in Newcastle and to repay old drug debts.
"He decided to grow cannabis, for his habit and to sell to friends," he said
Mr Recorder Christopher Millington QC said he was unable to suspend the prison sentence. He said: "This was cannabis-growing on a commercial scale."
