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Cannabis Campaigners' Guide News Database result:
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UK: Ex-councillor was cannabis producer
Hull Daily Mail Friday 16 Dec 2011 Anti-drugs campaigner Stephen Paul Crowther, 57, was jailed for 15 months for producing cannabis in Flamborough, where he sat on the parish council. Officers found 130 plants at his property. Under the Proceeds Of Crime Act, he must pay back the money. Now, Recorder Peter Pimm, sitting at Hull Crown Court, has ruled Crowther made £21,588 from his criminality. He has been ordered to pay the money back within six months or face 12 months in prison. The cannabis plants had been found at the Flamborough DIY unit at Bempton Lane Industrial Estate. The cannabis was produced from September to December last year. Crowther had claimed he was an anti-drugs role model for youngsters. The 57-year-old, of Marine Valley, Flamborough, had maintained a man he called "John the Gipsy" used the lock-up and was to blame for the drugs. Evidence of a fledgling cannabis growing operation was also found at a second lock-up Crowther rented in Arras Hill, near Market Weighton, and plants were seized from his van. Police seized 173 illegal plants worth almost £7,000 from his lock-up in Bempton Lane Industrial Estate, the court heard. Previously, Judge Jeremy Richardson QC criticised Crowther for his "nauseating hypocrisy". He said: "I can't say the defendant was a prime mover, but he was involved in the operation knowingly and fully. "You were a pillar of the community. "You have done them a grave disservice. "You have shown scant regard for your family and your employees." Crowther runs a haulage firm called Flamborough Gas and DIY. During his trial, Crowther told the court: "I am a role model in that I am trying to help the kids. I am not going to be dealing in drugs." Crowther was the parish council's representative for the Off The Streets Committee, which ran from September 2007 to early 2009, to provide services and equipment for the young people in the village. As reported in the Mail, the parish council were unable to sack Crowther from his role until he was sentenced to more than three months in jail. He technically remained a councillor until he resigned last October. Under the Proceeds Of Crime Act the police can take criminals to court to seize their assets gained from criminality. http://www.thisishullandeastriding.co.uk/Ex-councillor-cannabis-producer/story-14154324-detail/story.html
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