Man sentenced for £90,000 town cannabis farm - FOUR years after arrest

Police raided Shane Singleton's rented semi-detached home on Valley Road, Old Basford, on May 17, 2017, said prosecutor Leanne Summers.

They found the attic and three bedrooms had been converted to grow the class B drug, and electricty had been abstracted.

In total they discovered 106 ‘healthy’ plants that could have fetched between £29,000 and £89,000 if sold in £10 deals.

His bank account showed "substantial cash deposits," Ms Summers said, but Singleton told police that relatives had paid some of the money.

Ms Summers said it was likely the defendant would make a substantial financial gain from the set-up.

Nottingham Crown Court heard he was last before the court when he was cautioned for permitting cannabis production in his premises in 2010.

Ms Summers was unable to say why the case had been delayed for so long as Singleton was interviewed shortly after his arrest, and again in January 2018, but he didn’t receive a postal requisition until March 2019.

Abigail Joyce, mitigating, said Singleton entered a guilty plea as soon as he was able, and since his last conviction had been in employment and in a stable relationship.

She said: “There has been a county court judgment against him in relation to the electricity and he faces a significant financial pressure. There is still £700 outstanding.

“To some extent he has brought it upon himself.”

Singleton, 44, of Apollo Drive, Bulwell, pleaded guilty to cannabis production and abstracting electricity, when he appeared at Nottingham Crown Court, on June 3.

Recorder Balraj Bhatia QC sentenced him to six months, suspended for one year, and ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs, on Thursday.

He told Singleton: "The delay is one of the most significant I have seen in recent cases. A custodial sentence cannot be considered.

"Because, effectively, you have been living with the spectre of this allegation for a substantial period of time, I take the view that the delay here is unfair."

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