Survivor ran cannabis factory at Grenfell flat
A SURVIVOR of the Grenfell Tower fire is facing jail after the remains of his cannabis oil factory were found in the burnt-out tower block.
Eamon Zada, 35, was arrested after investigators combing the building three weeks after the deadly inferno found more than 30lb of cannabis cuttings, 1.5lb of cannabis oil, butane gas canisters and a specialist oven in his two-bedroom flat.
Zada, who is currently housed at the Radisson Blu hotel in Marylebone, central London, along with other survivors, had produced enough cannabis oil to last one user 140 days, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard on Wednesday.
The fire at Grenfell Tower in north Kensington on June 14 last year killed 71 people, including an unborn baby, and left hundreds homeless.
Zada has been a core participant in the public inquiry into the disaster, which has often been disrupted by angry protesters, the court heard.
Before Zada’s court hearing, his lawyers had asked for him to be granted anonymity for fear that his butane canisters could be linked to the blaze and make him the target of violence, but Judge Tan Ikram refused the application.
The cannabis at Zada’s flat was described as ‘cannabis trim’, the excess leaves growers snip from the buds of their plants.
These leftovers can be used for extractions of cannabinoids to create cannabis oil and other products, so growers often keep them to maximise their sales. Zada told police he used between five or six grams of oil per day, and that normal cannabis had a limited effect because he had been a regular user since the age of 12.
Many argue that cannabis oil has medicinal benefits. Hannah Deacon, the mother of Alfie Dingley, a six-year-old boy from Warwickshire with severe epilepsy, has been fighting to allow her son to be treated with it in the UK. The Home Office had initially turned down her request but is now said to reconsidering the case.
The oil remains illegal because it contains THC, which creates a high but can also cause anxiety and psychosis in its users.
Maxine Channer-McDaniel, prosecuting, said: ‘On July 4, firefighters entered Grenfell Tower. A number of items were found at a flat believed to be used in the production of cannabis – lights that related to the growing of cannabis and other items. A number of
‘Regular user since the age of 12’
butane gas canisters meant a more thorough search was conducted on July 6 during which a number of items were seized from the property.’
The cannabis was stored in the second bedroom and the gas canisters were kept in the kitchen.
Zada pleaded guilty to one count of being concerned in the supply of cannabis. Sentencing was adjourned until March 6.
A prison sentence of up to 14 years can be given for the supply and production of cannabis.