Drug charge man given work order (From Ludlow Advertiser)

Drug charge man given work order

8:00am Friday 8th March 2013 in News

A 39-YEAR-OLD man who admitted growing three cannabis plants at the home of a friend near Ludlow has been ordered to complete 150 hours unpaid work.

Gregory Smith had been cultivating the drug for his own use at the address in Potters Close, Bucknell, in April last year.

He had also been abstracting electricity from a nearby property to provide the conditions for the plants to grow.

Smith was also ordered to pay £1,200 costs when he appeared for sentence at Shrewsbury Crown Court last week.

At an earlier hearing Smith had also admitted being in possession of a stun gun which police found when they searched the house.

The court heard Smith, who had been living in a camper van at the address, and the plants were growing in a homemade container and were found after police received a tip off from a local resident.

Mrs Debra White, for Smith, said the stun gun was in a tool box in the kitchen and her client had bought it in a mixed lot at an auction, but he had never attempted to use it and it was broken.

􀁧􀁧 The owner of the house, 37-year-old William Baldwin, had admitted cultivating 112 cannabis plants to pay off a drug debt and abstracting the electricity between January and April last year.

His case was adjourned for a trial of issue for a judge to determine the facts before passing sentence.