A shocked landlady discovered her rental property was being used as a cannabis farm following a routine check-up at the house.
The landlady and her partner arrived to do a check after having concerns for the property.
They had knocked on the door but the tenant, Luke Nixon, was nowhere to be seen.
After getting no answer they tried their keys, but found that the locks had been changed.
A locksmith was called later that day and the landlady’s partner returned to the property to meet them.
When he regained access to the property, the man discovered there was a cannabis grow upstairs and significant damage caused to the house to make way for the illegal drug production set-up.
More than 70 cannabis plants, believed to be worth a potential £64,000, were seized when police were called to the property on 5 February 2020, as well as equipment used to maintain and weigh the plants.
The electricity had also been bypassed and officers noticed wires coming out of the electricity meter, something which can pose a significant fire risk. The electricity company was quickly contacted and made the house safe by cutting the supply.
Once the house, in Franklin Road, Jacksdale, had been made safe and the drugs and equipment recovered, the focus then turned to the hunt for Nixon, who was discovered to be out of the country at the time.
He was later found in Kent and was arrested by local officers.
He was brought back to Nottinghamshire and interviewed on 1 March 2020, where it was discovered that Nixon had photos of the grow on his mobile phone.
The 33-year-old, of Market Place, Ilkeston, Derbyshire, was jailed for two years and three months when he appeared at Nottingham Crown Court on Wednesday (11 August 2021) charged with producing a class B drug.
Inspector Mark Dickson, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “Nixon was not only producing a significant quantity of illegal drugs but he also caused significant damage to the house in the process, including walls being left with holes in them.
“Finding the grow and damage to the property has caused the landlady and her partner lots of stress. It is something no one should expect when renting out a house. Nixon clearly spared no thought for them when he decided to use it for his own criminal purposes.
“The production and supply of cannabis can often be linked to wider criminality and that is why police take such reports seriously and put significant resource and effort in to responding when we receive such a report.
“I hope that this sentence gives Nixon time to reflect on the seriousness of his actions and the impact they have had. It should also act as a warning to others producing drugs – we will find you and we will bring you to justice.”
