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Prison for cannabis grower
A plasterer who fell on hard times and resorted to growing a crop of 111 cannabis plants in his shed has been jailed for nine months.
Jody Roffe, 33, admitted growing the plants in an attempt to double his 1,500 investment in cultivating equipment after reading how easy it was in a book.
Roffe, of Albany Road, St Leonards, admitted to police that it 'had not gone according to the book'.
His girlfriend of fifteen years had found out about the plants a week earlier and had told him to get rid of them.
He was described by his defence barrister as a proud man, who having fallen on hard times with his business and had not admitted his cash problems to his girlfriend.
He came up with the scheme of growing the plants to double his money after racking up 20,000 debts.
His defence barrister Russell Parks told the judge: "This is the first, and certainly the last, time my client has attempted to grow the plants and did so because of the financial difficulties he was experiencing.
"He left school at 16 and by his own admission is good with his hands but not his brain.
"He formed a company with a partner who then moved to France leaving my client with a huge VAT bill.
"My client is a proud man and did not want to admit the financial difficulties he was having to his girlfriend.
"Perhaps an indication of how naive he was is that when he went to a hydroponics shop to purchase the equipment he left his name, address and telephone number.
"He thought he would double his investment of 1,500, and did not understand the implications or seriousness of the offence.
"He is terrified and tearful to be before the courts for this matter.
"His girlfriend is very disappointed in him and at the time of his arrest for this matter it is fair to say he was not in her good books over her discovery of the cannabis.
"He has been a decent member of society, a good employer, and is genuinely remorseful. He has no contacts in the drug world."
The plants were between 38 and 50cm in height and would have produced about 76 ounces of the class C drug.
Roffe will be entitled to release after serving half of the nine months in custody. The judge ordered all the drugs and paraphernalia to be destroyed.
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Sunday 27 May 2012
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