TWO ‘naive’ and ‘desperate’ men who ran a giant cannabis factory at a Chester industrial estate have been placed behind bars – to set an example to others tempted by drugs crime.
Between October 2010 and April 2011 Geoffrey O’Neill, 57, of Helsby, and Nicholas Ellison, 41, of Leigh, set up and ran a large-scale cannabis operation at Silverdale Park, Station Lane, Mickle Trafford.
Appearing before Chester Crown Court on Monday, the pair were sentenced to three years in jail after pleading guilty to the unlawful production of cannabis and the abstraction of £9,000 worth of electricity.
Sentencing the pair more than 10 months after their arrests at the industrial estate, Judge Roger Dutton described the men as ‘vulnerable’, saying he hoped the sentences would ‘act as a deterrent to others tempted to enter the financially lucrative drug cultivation trade’.
Prosecuting, David Jones said both defendants had been struggling financially as a result of the recession when they were recruited by drug dealers and asked to set up and run the cannabis factory, being promised a wage of £200 per week, which they never received.
Police swooped on the industrial estate in April last year after suspicions were raised when high-powered lamps used to cultivate the 193 plants used so much electricity they blew a fuse and started a small fire.
Mr Davies described how when police raided the rooms on the evening of April 12, 2011, they discovered 193 cannabis plants, 18 of which were mother plants, a hydroponics set-up – including high-powered lamps, an irrigation and ventilation system and fast-growing fertiliser.
They immediately arrested Ellison and O’Neill, who were sat surrounded by 36 plants, pruning and trimming them.
“This was clearly a prominent set up,” said Mr Davies, who said that, although the second room contained no plants, it was clear from the equipment found future expansion was on the cards.
“This was a fantastic sum of plants, with 193 plants and the potential to grow up to four crops a year could have meant a financial gain of something in the region of £390,000 a year.”
When they were interviewed by police both men admitted their parts in the cultivation of cannabis, but insisted they were acting alone in the enterprise. Both men pleaded guilty at the first available opportunity.
Defending Ellison, Sarah Phelan said he was a ‘hard-working family man’ who had found himself in financial difficulty as a result of the recession and panicked when he was asked for £6,000 in maintenance for a 14-year-old son he didn’t know he had.
“He recognises that when he was asked to join this enterprise he made a rash decision and he considers himself naive of the serious nature of these offences,” said Miss Phelan.
Defending O’Neill, Tom Whatson, said he deeply regretted his actions which he made at a time of serious financial hardship and would ‘never do anything like it again’.
Sentencing the pair to three years for the unlawful production of cannabis and 12 months for the abstraction of electricity which will run consecutively, Judge Roger Dutton said: “You were more than guilty. You were clearly going to get money out of this, but the police were able to stop getting any further.
“It is unusual to see men such as you at your age sitting in the docks facing serious criminal charges, it is a lesson to anyone who is tempted to get involved in these circles.”
