Man hid £40,000 cannabis farm in mum's attic and illegally used £4,000 of electricity

A man hid a £40,000 cannabis farm in his mum's attic - and illegally used £4,000 of electricity cultivating the crop.

Richard Harrison, who has been jailed for 18 months, kissed his mum goodbye on the cheek and said “see you later” as he was led down at Liverpool Crown Court.

Police raided the house the 39-year-old shared with June Boulton, 59, in Walton, Liverpool, on February 14 last year.

The court heard officers discovered 51 mature cannabis plants in the roof-space, which could have yielded 2kg of female flowering tops.

Rob Jones, prosecuting, said further investigations revealed that £4,000 of electricity had been used illegally at the property, reports the Liverpool Echo.

Harrison, with a shaved head and wearing a grey sweatshirt and black coat in the dock, pleaded guilty to producing a Class B drug and abstracting electricity.

Boulton admitted permitting a premises to be used for the production of cannabis and possessing a prohibited weapon, a CS gas canister.

Neil Gunn, defending, said that Harrison was a heavy cannabis user who used the drug to help his insomnia.

Trial: Harrison was jailed at Liverpool Crown Court

He said his brother died at the age of 17 in his sleep and that contributed to Harrison’s sleeping problems.

Mr Gunn added that the cannabis crop was his first and the offence covered a three-month period.

Osman Munir, defending Boulton, said she was a woman of good character.

However, he said his client had “quite a troubled upbringing” and suffered from mental health problems, a personality disorder and depression as a result of these events.

He said: “She depends on Mr Harrison for support and he is her carer. She is a woman of limited means and she depends on him for daily activities.”

Judge Andrew Hatton said Harrison was responsible for a “relatively sophisticated set-up” and had previous convictions for drug related matters and robbery.

The court heard that at the time of the offence he was serving a nine-month sentence, which had been suspended for two years.

The judge jailed him for 14 months for the new offences and activated four months of this suspended term.

Boulton, with long blonde hair and wearing a black blouse in court, received a community order with 12-months’ supervision.

She was also handed a 16-week home curfew from 6pm to 6am daily.