A Bargoed woman has been jailed for a year after she grew cannabis in a council-owned house.
The home of Wendy Williams, 49, of Sycamore Court, Bargoed, was raided by police in November 2012. While there officers caught her in possession of 8.97 grams of cannabis and in possession of 1.7 kgs of cannabis in production.
They also discovered she had been stealing electricity, via a loop bypassing the meter, and had stolen gas through a stolen gas meter.
Williams appeared at Cardiff Crown Court on the April 5 2013 and was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, forfeiture and destruction of all drugs and paraphernalia and ordered to pay a £100 victim surcharge for producing a controlled Class B drug.
She also received a three month sentence for dishonesty using electricity, one month imprisonment for possession of a controlled Class B drug, and three months imprisonment for the theft of gas. The sentences were ordered to run concurrently.
Speaking after the case, Cllr Gerald Jones, Deputy Leader of Caerphilly County Borough Council and Cabinet Member for Housing, said: “This was a very serious and dangerous situation whereby a tenant has shown complete disregard for the law, the property and the safety of neighbours. The prison sentences should serve as a stark warning to all those who would consider growing cannabis, abstracting electricity or theft of gas.”
The stolen gas meter had been incorrectly installed and was leaking. Cardiff Crown Court was told the smell of cannabis was so strong the leaking gas could not be smelt.
The electricity meter had started to melt due to heat created by the loop and both the gas and electricity meters were close to each other.
Representatives from Swalec and British Gas commented on how dangerous the situation had become, when they attended the scene along with the police and Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Tenancy Enforcement Section.
Bargoed Crime and Disorder Reduction Officer, PC Claire Young said: “This result should act as a warning to people thinking of growing cannabis. Not only are you putting yourself and others in danger, but if caught, you may find yourself facing a considerable prison sentence.”
- On Monday April 22 2013, Caerphilly County Borough Council attended court to make an application for possession of the property, whereby the District Judge ordered possession of the property within seven days.
THIS IS A DISTURBING AND GROWING TREND EXCUSE THE PUN BUT THESE PEOPLE RUIN THE ESTATES COUNCIL OR PRIVATELY OWNED, THERE ARE DECENT PEOPLE ON THESE ESTATES. ESPECIALLY COUNCIL ESTATES THERE ARE DECENT FAMILIES WHICH CANNOT GET A HOUSE, I WONDER WHAT STEPS THE COUNCIL WILL TAKE IN THIS INSTANCE EVICTION SHOULD ALSO BE CONSIDERED AS PUNISHMENT TO ANY TENANT ABUSING THE RULES OF RENTING SET BY THE COUNCIL.
Sounds like her neighbours had a very lucky escape. A leaking gas meter and melting electric meter is pretty much a ticking bomb waiting to go off. Who wants that for a neighbour!
Hopefully it wont take too long for the council to fix the house up and it can be put to good use by a family.
We need to stop this stupid and unwinnable war against cannabis. It is causing far more harm to our communities than it prevents. If we had a properly regulated system of production and supply we'd have no more illegal and dangerous cannabis farms causing fires and blighting communities. Instead we'd have thousands of new jobs. We'd have no more dealers on the streets. Cannabis would be available to adults only through licensed outlets and we'd have some control over its content and who it is sold to.
Doctors would be able to prescribe one of the most effective medicines that has no serious side effects at all. At the moment the government has given GW Pharmaceuticals an unlawful monopoly on cannabis so they make millions out of a medicine that anyone can grow at home for pennies.
If we introduced a legally regulated system we would solve nearly all the problems around cannabis. Science proves how much safer it is than tobacco, alcohol, prescription medicines and all other recreational drugs. If anyone does have a problem with it they could get help without having to confess to a crime.
CLEAR published independent, expert research last year which shows that a tax and regulate policy on cannabis would produce a net gain to the UK economy of up to £9.3 billion per annum.
It is a scandal that our government, our judges, our courts, our police and our newspapers keep misleading us about cannabis. Find out the truth for yourself. A huge disinformation campaign funded mainly by the alcohol industry has been misleading the British people for more than 50 years.
She was endangering people with her dangerous installation and also stealing the gas and electricity so for these things she does deserve a punishment.
However the cannabis is another matter. Bearing in mind that it is quite possible to home-grow cannabis in a safe and responsible way- we should change the law so that people who want some cannabis may grow their own but any lighting and ventilation equipment should be put in by a qualified electrician who will know how to do it safely.
totally agree David xx
u all wanna get ur facts righrs instead of beluvibf anything that read u all clearly dont no her so keeo ya comments made abt my mam to ur selfs instead of interfering ib other ppl life u no good bunch of gossiping internet freaks
Everyone on here is slagging her off no one knows her and have no idea why she done what she did. U lot have done nothing wrong in ur life have u ? . yes its a big mistake but none of u know her and judge her on this stuff. All u lot are in the close procsimaty to a dealer and u lot don't know it u lot leave sad life's if this is all the comments u lot can leave .I know Wendy personallyand sshe's not a bad person just hit a bad point in her life and if u knew her life then ud understand better that's all u c is black and white u don't c the whole picture cos u don't know it all .she willdo anything for anyone without thought she's got a heart of gold . she's like family to me and her boys she have done a load for her family in the past and still would . try and imagine both sides before leaving comments on here . u want to ask y she done it in the first place not just for cash .she needed it to keep afloat . u lot make me sick
Totally agree with Mike and Kelly. The biggest problem out of all of this is people making snarky comments about Wendy. How dare you read the facts and have an opinion. It's bang out of order. I don't know how you people sleep at night.