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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Cannabis granny escapes prison
Matthew Moore and agencies Telegraph.co.uk
Wednesday 07 Mar 2007 A grandmother escaped jail today after being convicted of growing cannabis in her bungalow. Patricia Tabram: Grandmother 'showed raid officers where cannabis was kept A jury took just 15 minutes to unanimously decide that Patricia Tabram, 68, was guilty of possessing and cultivating the drug. She had told the court that she needs it to ease her depression, and the pain from injuries sustained in two car crashes. The judge ordered her to carry out 250 hours' community service and pay £1,000 in costs. Tabram had faced the prospect of jail after breaching a suspended jail term imposed after a previous cannabis conviction. Before today's verdict at Carlisle Crown Court, the grandmother of two said she was unafraid of going to prison. "I will be with all women in there and they will treat me like a queen. I will be everyone's granny in there," she said. Afterwards the former chef and teacher, who represented herself throughout, expressed her frustration at the way the criminal justice system had treated her. "I am old and I am tired, and I am disappointed, not in the result by the jury. I am disappointed in the attitude of the court regarding someone my age with my health problems and the way I deal with it." Despite escaping jail, Tabram may be thrown out of her council property for breaching her tenancy agreement. Milecastle Housing Association is to arrange a meeting to decide how it should react. Acting on a tip off, police found four cannabis plants growing in a wardrobe at her bungalow in Humshaugh, Northumberland, in September 2005. They also found powdered cannabis in a jar next to her cooker. She had been given a suspended six-month jail sentence at Newcastle Crown Court in April 2005 by Judge David Hodson after she was found with plants and cannabis worth £850, which she used to make curries, casseroles, biscuits and soups for local people. A Northumbria Police spokeswoman defended the decision to prosecute the elderly grandmother. "Patricia Tabram has consistently flouted the law and Northumbria Police has a duty to act on the information we receive concerning possessing and cultivating drugs in order to enforce this law," she said. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/
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