Wimbish man fined for growing cannabis in his summerhouse

A mechanical engineer from Wimbish who was caught with 27 cannabis plants in his summerhouse last year was fined and ordered to pay costs at Chelmsford Magistrates Court today.

Paul Ingram, 58, of Rowneys, Thaxted Road, in the Essex village, was fined £210 and ordered to pay £85 costs and £21 victim surcharge.

He admitted illegally cultivating cannabis on 24 November last year and told the court that he used it to ease pain that he suffered.

Police executed a warrant at his address and found 12 “mature” plants and 15 “seedlings” in the summerhouse in the garden.

The ceiling and walls were insulated and there were lights and heating inside the building.

Alan Caldwell, defending, told the magistrates that, having watched television documentaries on the subject, Ingram was “experimenting” for medical reasons and had been eating the drug in a bid to ease the pain in his joints.

Mr Caldwell said self-employed Ingram suffers from chronic joint pain having been medically diagnosed, and that he did not condone the use of cannabis but recognised that it helped his condition.

“He’s never used cannabis in his life and insists he has not embarked on a new career path involving the drug. It was not a sophisticated operation,” added Mr Caldwell.

Justices ordered the destruction of the drugs and the equipment involved.