Attic turned into cannabis factory

TRYING TO PAY OFF DEALERS

A PLUMBER transformed his loft into a cannabis factory.

Leicester Crown Court was told the attic had a lighting and hydroponics system – but the ceiling was in danger of collapsing when the police searched John Mills’s home.

Luc Chignell, prosecuting, said the growing operation was “sophisticated” and the 25 cannabis plants seized by officers could have yielded 1.4kg of the class B drug.

Mills, 42, admitted producing cannabis in the roof space of his flat in Forryan Road, Hinckley, in July last year.

The prosecutor said: “He told officers he owed drug dealers money and his way of repaying that debt was to grow cannabis in his loft.

“He never provided any details about how he came into possession of this equipment.”

Gary Short, mitigating, said Mills’s life took a downturn when he was convicted for the second time of driving with excess alcohol in 2017.

The loss of his driving licence adversely affected his ability to work as a self-employed plumber.

The defendant sank into a spiral of drinking and cocaine use which, in turn, caused the breakdown of his relationship with the mother of his son.

Mr Short said: “By the summer of last year he was living in a grotty flat on his own trying to pay off a drug dealer’s debt by allowing a cannabis grow in his attic.

“The police feared the ceiling was about to come in when they searched the flat, because the lounge ceiling (below the cannabis grow in the attic) was bowing.

“In the 18 months since the offence he’s managed to battle his demons with alcohol and cocaine.”

The court heard Mills had now moved away from Leicestershire and had secured agency work as a plumber.

Sentencing, Recorder Benet Brandreth QC said: “You owed money to drug dealers and agreed to grow cannabis for them in your attic for no profit.

“But this offending is only part of your life story which reflects a particularly dark period in your life.

“You’ve now managed to turn things completely around.

“I’m impressed you’ve sought and obtained work which will help to keep you on the straight and narrow.”

Mills was sentenced to a 12-month community order and ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work.