Man jailed for Netherton cannabis set up (From Dudley News)

Man jailed for Netherton cannabis set up

3:10pm Thursday 16th August 2012 in News

A 27-YEAR-old man who set up a cannabis farm at his Netherton home while he was on licence from a seven year jail term has been put behind bars for another 18 months.

Neighbours of Sean Kelly alerted police after noticing the strong smell of cannabis coming from the detached property in Northcott Road said Mr Mark Rees prosecuting.

He said officers who went to the house were also quickly made aware of the smell but were told by Kelly they would not be allowed in unless they had a warrant.

Mr Rees told Wolverhampton Crown Court that police then heard a loud crashing noise coming from the back of the house and saw Kelly running away, but he was quickly apprehended after a short chase.

When police went into the house, they discovered 34 cannabis plants were being cultivated in the loft area in what was a "moderately sophisticated operation."

The electricity supply to the rented property had also been tampered with to allow Kelly to get "free" power to run his cannabis factory.

Kelly, now living in Pype Hayes Road, Erdington admitted cultivating the controlled drug and abstracting electricity and was told by Judge Martin Walsh the factory would have realised a "significant" amount of cannabis.

He said it was an aggravating feature of the case that Kelly was on licence from prison at the time having been jailed at Warwick Crown Court for seven years for causing death by dangerous driving.

Miss Sarah Hurd defending said Kelly had been out on licence for 14 months and had secured employment but his employers dismissed him when they discovered he had been in prison.

He then became depressed and when the opportunity to grow cannabis presented itself he "closed his eyes to the consequences," she added.