Another dope
Posted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 9:50 pm
A cannabis grower was caught because he was so outraged when his plants were stolen that he called 999 to report it to police.
Matthew Warnes was immediately arrested when officers arrived at his home in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, in the early hours of July 4 and discovered more plants and an unsophisticated growing operation. The 29-year-old had spent £250 of his Christmas money on growing equipment from internet auction site eBay as he was finding it too expensive to buy the class B drug off the street.
Prosecuting at Rotherham Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, Mark Hughes said: 'He called the police to say that three of his cannabis plants had been stolen. 'When they arrived they found a further three intact cannabis plants from 18 to 42 centimetres in height and a small growing set up. 'They also found bags containing cuttings of dried cannabis suggesting this was a continuing operation.'
Mitigating, Louisa Giblin said the operation was not sophisticated and called on the district judge not to impose a custodial sentence. Warnes was sentenced to 26 weeks in custody suspended for 12 months and ordered him to complete 150 hours of unpaid work. District Judge Jane Goodwin said: 'The fact that you yourself phoned the police to report this is not a mitigating factor.' Warnes was also ordered to pay £85 costs.
He refused to speak after the case.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z2EJIAKBIW
