Devon school caretaker had shotgun to protect cannabis

Robert Mitchell said he was growing the cannabis for his own use

A former school caretaker who kept a sawn-off shotgun to protect his cannabis plantation has been jailed.

Robert Mitchell had the weapon and two shotgun cartridges in a filing cabinet in the garage where he was growing 40 cannabis plants, a court heard.

He said he was growing the cannabis for his own use, Exeter Crown Court heard.

Mitchell, 61, from Bideford, Devon, admitted having a prohibited weapon and a firearm without a certificate and was jailed for five years.

He was working as a caretaker at a north Devon school last October when police raided his then home in Westleigh, near Bideford.

The building had metal doors at the front and a side door with a reinforced metal frame and was covered by a CCTV system which Mitchell claimed was to deter intruders.

He said he found the sawn-off and another shotgun in a field after chasing off suspected poachers about three years ago.

He did not report it to the police and kept it apart from his seven other legally held firearms which were kept in a locked cabinet at his home.

He was jailed for five years under Britain's strict firearms laws which impose a mandatory minimum sentence for possession of a sawn-off shotgun.

Judge Peter Johnson told him: "You knew this sawn-off shotgun worked and the inevitable conclusion is that you had it there to protect the cannabis cultivation."

Miss Hollie Gilbery, defending, said Mitchell gave up his job as a caretaker at a local school so he could look after his elderly and sick parents.