Published date: 09 September 2014 |
Published by: Staff reporterRead more articles by Staff reporterEmail reporter
A man who set up a sophisticated cannabis factory at Colwyn Bay in North Wales made £21,000 out of the enterprise.
Last December, Gareth John Ellis was jailed for six years.
Ellis (41) of West Street in Crewe, who denied producing cannabis at the rented house but who was convicted by a jury some months ago, was back at Mold Crown Court, for a financial hearing under The Proceeds of Crime Act.
Judge Niclas Parry made an agreed order that the value of his criminal benefit was £21,321 – which is the wholesale value of the 105 adult cannabis plants seized by the police.
But the available amount for confiscation was £2,846 – the money found in three separate bank accounts.
The judge said that he would have to serve an additional three months in default of payment.
Ellis had previously served a seven year sentence for importing class A drugs and had been jailed for producing cannabis previously.
The latest venture came to light thanks to two police officers with a keen sense of smell.
They realised that there was a strong smell of cannabis coming from a two storey house in Grove Road, Colwyn Bay, in January 2012.
Inside they found more than 400 juvenile and adult cannabis plants growing in sophisticated hydroponic systems.
Ellis denied that he had ever been in the house but his finger prints were found on a pot plant, on a bag and on a coffee jar in the kitchen.
But in evidence he said that he previously had a shop which sold hydroponics systems.
When the business ended he packed everything up including items from his kitchen and that was how his finger prints were at the premises.
But he was convicted by the jury.
Last December, Gareth John Ellis was jailed for six years.
Ellis (41) of West Street in Crewe, who denied producing cannabis at the rented house but who was convicted by a jury some months ago, was back at Mold Crown Court, for a financial hearing under The Proceeds of Crime Act.
Judge Niclas Parry made an agreed order that the value of his criminal benefit was £21,321 – which is the wholesale value of the 105 adult cannabis plants seized by the police.
But the available amount for confiscation was £2,846 – the money found in three separate bank accounts.
The judge said that he would have to serve an additional three months in default of payment.
Ellis had previously served a seven year sentence for importing class A drugs and had been jailed for producing cannabis previously.
The latest venture came to light thanks to two police officers with a keen sense of smell.
They realised that there was a strong smell of cannabis coming from a two storey house in Grove Road, Colwyn Bay, in January 2012.
Inside they found more than 400 juvenile and adult cannabis plants growing in sophisticated hydroponic systems.
Ellis denied that he had ever been in the house but his finger prints were found on a pot plant, on a bag and on a coffee jar in the kitchen.
But in evidence he said that he previously had a shop which sold hydroponics systems.
When the business ended he packed everything up including items from his kitchen and that was how his finger prints were at the premises.
But he was convicted by the jury.
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