OAP who fled UK must pay back over £290k
A PENSIONER who ran a cannabis factory with his son and was found with indecent images of children has been ordered to pay back more than a quarter of a million pounds.
He was part of a conspiracy in which 156 plants were being grown in an attic, and was found to have benefited by £345,000.
William Dolbear Sr, 73, was arrested along with his son William Samuel Dolbear Jr, 30, on November 6, 2019, after a house in Bridgend was raided by police and a cannabis factory discovered in the attic.
The smell of cannabis upon entering the house was “overwhelming” and the set up was described as a “highly professional commercial operation”, the court previously heard.
There were five separate growing areas, illuminated by six high-powered 600 watt lamps, three carbon filters, dehumidifiers and extraction fans. The potential yield of the plants were between 160 and 498 ounces, with a value between £28,220 and £109,560. There were also 111 seedling plants, with a value up to £73,260.
The father and son were arrested in a car at junction 34 of the M4 for Llantrisant, and both had mobile phones and cash seized. Evidence showed both were “working together” and expected a “substantial financial advantage” as a result of the operation.
When Dolbear Sr’s phone was examined, a number of indecent images of children were discovered. A total of 153 Category A images, 51 Category B images, and 140 Category C images were found, as well as 470 prohibited and 34 extreme images.
Following Dolbear Sr’s arrest, the defendant pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce and supply cannabis and possession of indecent images. But he returned to his home in Sint Eustatius, in the Dutch Caribbean, in 2019, and has since refused to come back to the UK to face justice. He remains at large.
Dolbear Sr was sentenced to a total of five years and 10 months’ imprisonment, in his absence. The Sint Eustatius authorities have been notified of Dolbear Sr’s conviction and sentence, and if he is not deported, the defendant should be arrested upon his return to the UK.
A Proceeds of Crime Act (POCA) hearing at Newport Crown Court heard Dolbear Sr benefited to the tune of £345,527 as a result of the venture, but only has assets worth £289,439.
In the defendant’s absence, Judge Matthew Porter-Bryant ordered him to pay that sum within three months or serve four years and six months’ imprisonment in default.