User who grew £8k drug set-up is spared prison
JON MACPHERSON
AHEAVY cannabis user who grew an £8,000 set-up at his home has been spared jail.
Marc Phillip Park’s home on Craven Street in Accrington was raided by police and officers found 24 cannabis plants growing in the attic and more cannabis in a ‘drying room’ downstairs.
The father-of-two pleaded guilty at Burnley Crown Court to producing cannabis and possessing cannabis with intent to supply. He was given an eightmonth jail sentence, suspended for two years with a 30-day rehabilitation activity requirement.
Prosecutor Stephen Parker told the court that the 30-year-old pleaded guilty on the basis that he was a ‘heavy cannabis user’ and had produced ‘too much cannabis for his own use’.
The court heard that Park, now of Hartmann Street, had never previously sold cannabis but ‘accepts on this occasion he would have sold some of the cannabis he had grown’.
Officers executed a search warrant at the property on December 18, 2016, and they ‘immediately noticed a strong smell of cannabis in the attic’.
Mr Parker said they found 24 cannabis plants and growing equipment with a ‘drying room’ downstairs containing a further 257g of the drug.
The court heard how the plants had a potential street value of around £8,000.
When interviewed, Park said he did it after ‘he had stopped taking a certain medication’ and was ‘growing the cannabis himself rather that using street deals’.
Defence barrister Mark Stuart said it was a ‘wholly wrong’ decision and there was no evidence of largescale dealing such as ‘tick lists’, mobile phones and snap bags.
He told the court: “This is a man who has undoubtedly had his difficulties. Effectively he started taking cannabis to medicate. Having worked for the vast majority of his adult life things got on top of him. He didn’t want to buy off the street and therefore decided wholly wrongly to grow it.
“He has now moved address and decided to stop taking cannabis and start taking the medication as is prescribed. With the assistance of Inspire and his GP he has found himself in a position now that is rather different than the start of last year. There is little or no danger of him becoming criminally involved again.”