A stupid cannabis farmer turned up at a police station four days after his drug factory was raided and
asked officers to give him back the keys.
Suspicious detectives detained Stephen Rodden on the spot and quizzed him about the thousands of pounds worth of dope plants they had just found.
And the fool is now starting a 27-month jail term for growing the drug.
Police raided the cannabis farm in an industrial unit in Livingston on February 18 and found 102 plants.
They claim the crop could have yielded 3.5 kilos of cannabis worth up to £35,000.
On February 22, Rodden appeared at the station to try to pick up the keys to the unit. His own lawyer admitted his actions were “naive”.
Neil Robertson, defending, said Rodden rented the unit for a garden furniture business but was soon struggling to pay the £1800-a-month rent and agreed to let cannabis be grown there.
He added: “Mr Rodden has no experience of growing cannabis. He wasn’t cultivating it himself but it was criminal and stupid behaviour.”
Mr Robertson insisted that Rodden didn’t know how many plants were in the unit or how much they were worth.
Livingston sheriff Peter Hammond told the accused: “This was a large-scale operation.
“It’s not a get-out that you didn’t appreciate the value of the product or have anything to do with the ‘gardening’.”
Sheriff Hammond told Rodden drug barons relied on people like him “doing their bidding”. He added: “I’m satisfied the only disposal is a custodial sentence.”
Co-accused Philip Deegan, 47, got 225 hours’ unpaid work and a six-month night-time curfew
for supplying cannabis.
Police found £641 worth of cannabis and £3600 in cash at Deegan’s Livingston home. He told police he smoked cannabis to relieve post traumatic stress after serving in the Army.
Deegan’s partner Donna Diamond, 47, was cleared of producing and supplying the drug.
