Landlords 'turned a blind eye' to Wakefield cannabis farms worth more than £850,000

Three men were sentenced at Leeds Crown Court this week for allowing the sophisticated drug farms to be set up at the houses in South Kirkby and South Elmsall.

Prosecutor Roger Brown said two officers first investigated suspicious activity at a property on Burntwood Crescent in South Kirkby at 7am on January 4, 2018, and detected a strong smell of cannabis.

When a BMW drove past slowly, which they suspected had been heading towards the house, they pulled it over and quizzed the driver. Andrew Kenneth Iveson told the officers he was lost, despite having a satnav in the car.

Police found a written note on his passenger seat, including a list of equipment for cannabis growing, scales, and a water bill for another property on Foxhunters Way, South Elmsall.

They found 282 plants across four rooms in the Burntwood Crescent home that had the potential to grow £415,000 worth of the drug. Iveson told police his fingerprints may have been on the equipment at the house because he sold the occupant hydroponic equipment.

Following up on the water bill found in Iveson’s car, the next day police attended the Foxhunters Way home where they found the remnants of a cannabis factory, which the police believe was hastily removed following a tip off about the previous day’s raid.

The homeowner, Sean Lumb said he had let the property to a Polish couple who paid him £600 a month and would put the money through his letterbox. He had a copy of a passport from one of the the occupants that police found to be false. When searching Lumb’s home address they found a bag of hydroponic equipment and an illegal stun gun.

They also found that Lumb had been in contact with a third man, Ian Stringfellow, and there was evidence both knew each other’s properties were being used for cannabis grows. As a result, police then raided another property on Doncaster Road in Pontefract where they found 312 plants worth an estimated £340,000.

Iveson, age 31, of Elder Avenue, Upton, admitted being concerned in the production of cannabis. Lumb, age 31, of High Street, Upton, admitted the same charge and possession of a prohibited weapon.

Stringfellow, age 55, of Orchid Crest, South Elmsall, denied being concerned in the production of cannabis, but was found guilty after a trial.

Mitigating for Iveson, Eddison Flint said he “deeply regretted” his involvement and “wished to pay for his actions”. For Lumb, Andrew Semple, said he was an engineer surveyor who was expecting his second child, and was a law-abiding man apart from the “extremely poor decision” he made to get involved.

Representing Stringfellow, Neal Kutte said he was a bricklayer whose life had “been exemplary” until that point.

Judge Simon Batiste gave Stringfellow and Iveson a 24-month sentence, suspended for 24 months, and 250 hours of unpaid work. Lumb was given 19 months’ jail, suspended for 24 months, and 200 hours of unpaid work.

He said they had “turned a blind eye” to the operations but warned them he would send them to custody them if they were to come back before the courts.