Men jailed for growing cannabis on Devon farm

Paul Hensher and Aleck Robbins were behind what was described as a "sophisticated" operation

Two cannabis growers who set up an industrial-scale operation at a smallholding in the countryside have been jailed for two years.

Paul Hensher, 63, and Aleck Robbins, 57, were caught with 224 plants they had grown at Hensher's farm on the outskirts of Holsworthy, Devon.

The men claimed they were getting ready in the hope that medicinal cannabis would be legalised.

They sold the crop to friends for £170 an ounce, Exeter Crown Court heard.

'Significant criminality'

The plants, which were seized by police in October 2018, would have been capable of producing over £110,000 worth of drugs every couple of months if they had all reached maturity, the court was told.

Hensher and Robbins, who both admitted producing cannabis, turned outbuildings into three growing rooms, and a caravan into a nursery for younger plants, and made detailed notes about when each crop would be ready for sale.

Judge Timothy Rose described it as a "sophisticated" set-up.

He said: "The sheer size and scale of the operation monumentally exceeded anything you could possibly have needed for your own use or that of a moderately small local group.

"This was a significant piece of criminality."