Police seize 'funny-looking' plants from garden plot

Police said they had seen the "funny-looking plant" before

Police have seized 15 "funny looking" plants that turned out to be cannabis.

Officers spotted the potted plants on a plot in Duke Street, Wisbech, Cambridgeshire.

Police said inquiries into the matter would continue.

Although it is not an offence to supply or possess cannabis seeds, germinating or cultivating the plants in the UK is illegal.

'Good effort'

Posting on Facebook, Cambridgeshire Police said: "The Neighbourhood Policing Team came across a lovely green space this morning.

"The plot was set out well, and there were items growing. However, upon closer inspection, we noticed that it was a funny looking plant that we have seen somewhere before.

"It was once quoted by Alan Titchmarsh: 'Gardening is, apart from having children, the most rewarding thing in life.'

"Good effort, but unfortunately for this unknown gardener, it won't be as rewarding as your 15 cannabis plants now sit in our drugs property."

Cannabis is a class B drug; it is illegal to possess, and anyone found with the drug could be imprisoned for up to five years.

Anyone found to be supplying it could receive a 14-year jail sentence, an unlimited fine or both.

Cannabis comes under the discretionary warning scheme, which is different to other Class B drugs.

According to the government's drugs advisory service Frank, this means that a police officer can choose to issue you with a street warning only (which doesn’t form a criminal record, though it will be recorded), so long as:

• You are in possession of a small amount of cannabis only, and for your personal use.

• It is the first time you have been caught with an illicit drug and you have no previous record of offence.

• You are compliant, non-aggressive and admit that the cannabis is for your own use only.

• If you're caught with cannabis and it is your second offence, the police can issue with a fixed-term fee notice, which is an on-the-spot fine for £80. If you pay that within 21 days, there is no criminal record. If there is a third occasion, you will be arrested and taken to the police station.