Stench weeds out £30k cannabis grower

Marc Nicholls wrongly fitted his filtration system and filled the main shopping street with the fumes, alerting shoppers, traders and residents who then tipped off the police.

Officers simply followed their noses to Nicholls's rented flat - and caught his brother red-handed watering 36 cannabis plants worth up to £30,000.

Nicholls, aged 36, of Wood Green Road, Wednesbury, was renting the flat in the historic riverside town of Tewkesbury.

Inside, police found two hydroponic growing systems in operation in two rooms of the flat - and they caught Nicholls' brother, Timothy, 27, of Spencer Close, West Bromwich, tending to the plants.

Marc admitted cultivation of the drug on January 20 this year and was jailed for eight months during the most recent hearing at Gloucester Crown Court.

His brother admitted being concerned in the production of cannabis and was fined £500.

Prosecutor, Miss Janine Wood said: "Police were called to complaints about a smell of cannabis in Tewkesbury High Street. Officers went and made door-to-door inquiries. It became evident to them that the smell was coming from a corner flat and the landlord gave the officers permission to enter.

"However, it was found that the locks had been changed, in contravention of the tenancy agreement and the police forced entry. They found Timothy Nicholls inside and he was arrested.

"In one room was a hydroponic system with 12 fully grown plants although there was no evidence of any harvesting. In the second room were medium sized plants. In total there were 36.

"Marc Nicholls later attended Gloucester police station and said the enterprise was all his. The potential street value of the plants if grown to maturity and harvested was somewhere between £10,000 and £30,000."

She said the crown was not seeking confiscation proceedings against either of the brothers under the Proceeds of Crime Act because inquiries had revealed they had no assets.

Timothy was of previous good character and Marc had limited previous convictions, none drug related, she said.

Sabhia Pathan, defending Timothy Nicholls, said he had not had anything to do with the enterprise and was simply there that day because his brother had asked him to go to the flat and water the plants.

Tim Burrows, defending Marc Nicholls, argued that immediate prison was not necessary given his previous record.