TWO men have pleaded guilty to running a cannabis factory at a small industrial estate on the outskirts of Chester.
Geoffrey O’Neill, 57, of Helsby, and Nicholas Ellison, 41, of Leigh, admitted the unlawful production of cannabis at Silverdale Park, Station Lane, Mickle Trafford, and the abstraction of electricity.
The Crown Prosecution Service understands the basis of the pleas were that the men had set up the factory at the behest of somebody else and were ‘effectively gardeners’.
The pair, who appeared at Chester Crown Court on Monday, will be sentenced later after the CPS has decided whether it can accept the basis of pleas at a hearing on December 9 in Warrington.
Suspicions were aroused after high powered lamps used to cultivate about 200 plants used so much electricity they blew the fuse and started a small fire.
Police were tipped off after a maintenance man called in ScottishPower. A monitor revealed high levels of power being consumed even during the middle of the night.
Neighbouring businesses had suffered a series of electric supply problems in weeks preceding the discovery of the factory.
The men were arrested on site back in April. It is understood they had not been living on the premises but had gone to tend their plants when caught.
Inside police found a hydroponics set-up which usually includes high powered lamps so the plants grow as though in daylight 24 hours a day, an irrigation and ventilation system plus fast growing fertiliser.
The plants are thought to have been at various stages of development.
