Blaze probe leads to cannabis discovery
A YOUNG motorcyclist is in hospital after a crash with a car while allegedly not wearing a helmet.
The man, who is in his 20s, was injured in the crash in Cleckheaton. His Yamaha scooter collided with a red Citroen at a junction on Whitcliffe Road near Tesco.
Eyewitness Mia Brogden, 19, said: “Myself and my friend were driving up Serpentine Road to turn on to the bridge.
“The other car was turning on to Serpentine Road. The bike was coming up Whitcliffe Road towards the bridge.
“I didn’t see any lights as the guy came flying up the road and he wasn’t wearing a helmet. All of a sudden I saw the bike smash into the car and he flew over the car.
“I got out of the car and told the person who was driving the car that he smashed into to ring for an ambulance. He was in a panic and said he came out of nowhere.
“The guy had a head wound, his teeth were damaged, he was bleeding from his head and mouth.
“His leg looked broken – it could fully swing round. It wasn’t nice to watch at all. He was in a lot of pain.”
“When he came around, I let him know what had happened and that he had to keep his head still. I stayed with him until an ambulance came and made sure he kept having gas and air while they straightened his leg out on to a splint. He kept trying to get up and move so I had to keep him calm.”
A spokesperson for West Yorkshire Police said: “We were called at 9.25pm to reports of a road traffic collision involving a car and a scooter. One person in his 20s has been taken to hospital.” yield from the crop of about 1.7 kilogrammes worth around £4,000 wholesale, but accepted not all might have been usable.
Carl Kingsley, representing Horn, said he played a limited function in what went on, but accepted he rented the premises in March and the plants were discovered in April.
“He accepts he rented the property for that purpose but did so under pressure and intimidation, showing naivety and exploitation due to the influence of others who were owed a debt by one of his friends who is now deceased.”
He said that man had owed £10,000 and Horn had been repaying £100 a week out of his legitimate wages from work for some two years, and had been told the cannabis grow would end the debt.
He realised he should have contacted police instead.
Horn, 27, who lived elsewhere in Manchester Road, admitted producing cannabis and was given a 12-month prison sentences suspended for 12 months with 180 hours unpaid work.
The Recorder of Leeds, Judge Peter Collier QC, said “You were friends with people who got into debt and you were prepared to allow premises you rented to be used to set up a little cannabis farm as a way of discharging that debt to those who were owed the money.”
Such production was serious but Horn had no previous drug offences and, having read references from his employer that he was a valued member of the team, he could suspend the inevitable prison sentence.