Builder grew cannabis to pay debts
A BUILDER whose business went bust tried to claw his way out of the recession by converting one of his Doncaster properties into a drugs farm.
Instead of seeking new tenants for a house he rented out in Belle Vue, Philip Arnold Pickard turned all the bedrooms over to the growing of cannabis, a court heard.
His first crop was not a success, and his second attempt was thwarted when a former tenant of the house in St Helen's Road tipped off police in February last year.
When police raided the premises they found a total of 39 young cannabis plants, spread across three bedrooms fitted out with artificial heat lamps and watering systems, said Carl Fitch, prosecuting at Doncaster Crown Court.
The plants were about two months from maturity and could have yielded more than 1.5 kilograms of cannabis, with a street value in excess of 9,000.
Police traced Pickard, aged 43, to a house in Harrowden Road, Wheatley, where he lived with his elderly parents.
He told officers: "I was compelled to do it because of my debts. I'm in a lot of debt and a friend suggested it."
Pickard's solicitor, Nigel Lumley, told the court things started to go wrong for the defendant in 2008 when his work as a self-employed builder dried up because of the property crash.
He had bought the house in St Helen's Road with a 100 per cent mortgage but two successive tenants trashed it and caused 10,000 worth of damage.
"It was a total disaster for him and he could see it being repossessed with negative equity. He was in total desperation," said Mr Lumley.
He said there was now light at the end of the tunnel because his mother's life savings had been used to set up a new business and he had already lost interest in the plants before his arrest.
Pickard, a divorced man, pleaded guilty to offences of producing cannabis and possessing it with intent to supply.
Judge Jacqueline Davies sentenced him to 36 weeks' imprisonment but suspended it for two years because of his early guilty plea.
But he must also complete 250 hours of unpaid community work and pay 1,200 prosecution costs.
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