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Landlord shocked at damage from cannabis factory in buy to let

A gas engineer was shocked to come across a large cannabis grow in a rental property after being called to change the meter.

He rang the police having smelt a strong smell of the drugs from a house in Blidworth, Nottinghamshire. 

Officers were alerted and managed to gain entry to the property and found around 30 cannabis plants across two rooms, the attic and the garage, as well as more drugs in boxes. 

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An electricity engineer later confirmed that the meter had been bypassed illegally allowing power to the cultivation in the garage and the upstairs bedroom. The cost of the stolen electricity was found to be close to the value of £2,500.

The landlord was shocked to be informed by police of the grow and the hefty repair bill. The cost of the repairs due to the damage caused to the property by the offender making holes in ceilings and water damage to floors and carpets was valued at £3,455.

Langton Machacha, from Bristol, 36, pleaded guilty to production of drug class B - cannabis - as well as the abstraction of electricity and criminal damage. 

He was given a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, when he appeared at Nottingham Crown Court.

Detective Constable Christine Hewlett says: "We work on intelligence and information from the local community and we act on anything we receive, in this incident the gas engineer called police straight away having smelt the drugs. 

“We are dedicated to interrupting drug supply across Nottinghamshire, it preys on vulnerable people, fuels crime and causes nuisance to those who live nearby.

"We also found that the electricity had had been by-passed at the premises, this can put not only the offenders lives at risk with illegal and unsafe tampering of the electricity supply, but also their neighbours.”

Want to comment on this story? If so...if any post is considered to victimise, harass, degrade or intimidate an individual or group of individuals on any basis, then the post may be deleted and the individual immediately banned from posting in future.

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    How is a suspended sentence appropriate for this? That is a slap on the wrist for all the damage he has done, putting lives at risk, stealing power as well as growing an illegal drug!

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    Agreed, our courts are not fit for purpose.

     
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    Yet another useless,wet judge

     
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    • 01 March 2021 09:12 AM

    Must be PRISON!!!!!!!!
    Nothing else is acceptable.

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    Our Courts, Prison and Probation Service all need a good overhaul. It's too much focused on the offender rather than the victim. Far, far, far too much leniency. I'm all for re-habilitation but they have to earn this right.

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    probation service needs destroying--its full of leftie morons who follow the kalergi plan--ie criminals are victime

    and we are the criminals because we own property

     
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    This damage is caused by Regulators for sure, it never used to happen in decades gone by because it couldn't when when LL's were in control of their property.
    They excluded the LL from the property when for years we could visit in reasonable daylight hours, we seldom did but the potential was there meaning the Tenant knew they couldn't do this kind of thing. What did they thing was going to happen, that's the idea KEEP LANDLORD OUT he can't be allowed to know whats going on.

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    I have seen several such Houses where this has happened in London even knew some of the owners, a huge amount of damage to the property, holes in walls, Ceilings, Chimney Breasts for ventilation systems, electric bypasses as standard, certainly some highly technical expertise back up to carry out all this wiring, not ordinary Joe. Why does Police nearly always smash the Door & Frame as well that's adding another cost to a bad situation. I don't like to see anyone going to prison only as last resort, its more cost for tax payer and they'll come out worse than they went-in.

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    • 01 March 2021 12:10 PM

    Then how on earth do these people who wreck a house ever get to feel the financial and emotional issues of correcting their selfishness?

    It seems with your idea these vandals just effectively walk away with no fines, financial disadvantage or a sense of wrongdoing.

    Not to mention too that they have already probably made large profits through the destruction of what might be your property?

    How would you feel? Would it still be Ok to just let them pack their suitcase and bu**er off and go to another house and do it all over again to someone else to screw over?

    Eye for an eye......Every time.
    My other cheek is not involved in this conversation.

    BANG THEM UP IMMEDIATELY and for a very long time. And pay back the damage they have caused.



     
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    One of the reasons prison is a last resort is because it's so expensive for the taxpayer to fund.

    We should make them profit centres rather than cost centres, by bringing in hard labour, 10 hours per day, six days per week.

    Mailbags might not be needed in the quantities they once were, but they could generate electricity walking in huge treadmills, get some fresh air working in chain gangs to fix potholes, pick up litter, paint neglected public buildings, dig the way for new roads or HS2 (using only hand tools) etc. - we are only limited by our imagination!

    I suspect that prisons would quite quickly become much less full (not just due to the fat lazy sods dying of exhaustion) but because they might start respecting the law of the land.

    Less crowded prisons would mean we could abolish early release or parole but if they remained full then their profits could allow us to reduce (or even abolish) taxes such as LBTT, CGT, IHT etc. all of which disproportionately hit hard working property owners.

    What's not to like?

     
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    Hi David, my friend I am not saying there should't be any consequences but Prison is a last resort, there are too many in there already they are still human beings and often young people does silly things, who knows we don't all live in glass houses it could even be our own children, god forbid how many parents actually know what they are up to, even if they think they do. Last resort some other means to rectify and put them on the right path. There must be millions on dope in London you get a whip as they pass you by, the prisons wont be able hold them & full already. How would I feel well after all those years nothing will shock me now. Still I don't believe in an eye for an eye I am not going to lower myself its not in my make up.

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    • 01 March 2021 12:58 PM

    Michael, I assume then that in your world, nobody gets punished in any way at all or whatsoever for what is actually a criminal offence, never mind the financial cost.

    I do not want to be rude, but I would hope that one day it will happen to you and your property and your family and you will feel the disruption and the need for some form of retribution and the effect it will have and I wonder what your reaction will be?

    "Poor people. Aw! Just let them go please Mr. Judge. I will pay for everything myself and do so willingly with no grudges or recompense."

    I would make a substantial wager that you would naturally go nuts and want to hang them by their obvious jewels!!!!!

    For sure with no punishment, they will do it agaian to someone else. Would you feel good that you have let them go an to do it again?

    As for prisons, they are not supposed to be holiday camps, and for me, the tougher and more uncomfortable and rough they are and crowded, then so much the better.

    These scum need to learn lessons. And make it so they remember. Maybe they will think 5 or 6 times before doing it again.

     
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    prisin should be mandatory in these cases--followed by deportations

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    Agreed.

    The Earth might be overpopulated right now despite the best efforts of Nature - male fertility (apparently the sp*rm word is banned on here!) halving over recent years - or Covid mainly targeting the non-productive - but there's still plenty of room in Siberia, Antarctica, Central China, Australian outback or Northern Canada etc. if we brought back transportation - maybe even on the Moon or Mars before too long?

     
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