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UK: Guilty cannabis granny is free to carry on baking
The Times
Saturday 09 Apr 2005 A grandmother who cooked up treats laced with cannabis for her friends and neighbours has received a suspended jail sentence. Patricia Tabram, who prides herself on her home-made herbal cookies, casseroles and soups, admitted possessing cannabis with intent to supply at her home in East Lea, Humshaugh, near Hexham, Northumberland. The sprightly 66-year-old, who cuts an unlikely figure as a drug dealer, had cooked up tasty morsels laced with the drug for people in her village after being introduced to it last year. Tabram was appearing at Newcastle Crown Court yesterday to be sentenced. In jailing the former chef for six months, suspended for two years, Judge David Hodson, the Recorder of Newcastle, said that the offence was so serious that only a jail sentence was appropriate. However, he emphasised that he had no intention of turning her into a martyr. "People in this part of the world cannot fail to have noticed that you have been caught up in a media circus," Judge Hodson said. "It might be that you have been trying to tempt the courts into making a martyr of you. I am not going to do this. "I consider that this offence merits imprisonment, which I fix at six months," he said. "However, I am persuaded that there are exceptional circumstances which justify a suspension of the sentence for a period of two years." The judge added: "The cause of this offence stems from your belief of the medicinal benefits of cannabis. It is not for me to make any judgment on the debate. The fact remains that it is an offence to possess cannabis with an intent to supply." The court was told that police officers raided Tabram's remote bungalow on June 30, 2004, and recovered 242g (8.5oz) of "skunk" cannabis, reputed to be the most potent variety, with a street value of ukp854. Officers found individual 3.5g wraps of the drug in her refrigerator and on her bedside cabinet. There was also a set of scales, the court was told. Tabram admitted buying the cannabis in bulk for herself and for four friends, all of whom take the drug to relieve medical problems. Stuart Graham, for the prosecution, told the court: "Patricia Tabram became involved in cannabis in February 2004 as a result of suffering physical symptoms. Somebody approached her and said that cannabis might help her with her difficulties." Tabram, wearing a black cardigan and a pearl necklace while seated in the dock, was accompanied to court by pro-cannabis supporters. The court was told how she had continued to take cannabis since she had admitted the charge at a hearing in December. "She maintains that she will continue taking cannabis and I do not suggest to the court that she has given it up," Carl Gumsley, Tabram's defence counsel, said. "What she has said, notwithstanding her own views, is that she will not supply it to any other person." In mitigation, Mr Gumsley said that his client has led an eventful life and had suffered from several episodes of mental illness over the years.
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