Wolverhampton bedrooms contained £120k cannabis farm

Two of the three bedrooms at the house in Wingfoot Avenue, Low Hill, were given over to the operation which involved 127 plants in various stages of cultivation, the city's Crown Court was told.

The plants were being grown by Jane McKeown who maintained that it was mainly for herself as the 54 year old was self medicating in a bid to ease the pain from a degenerative spine condition, said Mr Kevin Jones, prosecuting.

But the defendant also admitted to police: "If I grew more than I needed I would have supplied the surplus to family and friends. They would have paid me, but this would have been to cover the cost of the operation rather than to make a profit."

Evidence from medical experts confirmed McKeown's claims about the state of her spine, the court heard.

Mr Jones said: "A total of 127 plants were involved and the maximum value of the drug was estimated at £120,000. It is accepted that some of this would have been for the personal use of the defendant."

A mobile phone recovered from the house by police during the raid on August 28, 2015, carried messages that indicated there had been an intention to supply the rest to others, concluded the prosecutor. McKeown had 18 previous convictions involving 29 separate offences – mainly for dishonesty – but the last of these was eight years ago.

Mr Jon Roe, defending, said: "She has always been a social user of cannabis, but has a chronic disease of the spine and so also used it to help cope with the discomfort.

"As the pain became worse and the illness took hold things spiralled out of control. She was using more and more cannabis and this became a real financial burden.

"She started growing her own crop, but had no idea how many plants would grow to fruition. That is why she had so many under cultivation."

McKeown admitted producing the drug and was given an 18 month jail sentence suspended for 18 months.