West Norfolk mother grew her own cannabis to avoid ‘seedy’ drugs underworld, court hears
Friday, August 31, 2012
12:19 PM
A WOMAN who grew her own cannabis worth thousands of pounds to avoid the “seedy” drugs underworld has been spared jail.
Joanne Dexter, of Terrington St Clement, grew 24 cannabis plants in her greenhouse as she believed it would help with her mental health problems.
The 38-year-old wanted to avoid associating with dealers and had not expected the seeds she bought to yield such a large crop, King’s Lynn Magistrates’ Court heard this week.
Prosecutor Gwen Wallace said the drugs and growing equipment had been discovered during a police search at Dexter’s home in Bullock Road on June 6.
The crop yield had been 1.59kg, of which 0.99kg had been the “best quality” cannabis worth more than £5,500 at £5.64 a gram.
Stuart Cooper, mitigating, said it had been a purely domestic and somewhat unsophisticated operation and Dexter had immediately admitted that she was responsible.
The court heard the mother-of-one, who is unable to work, had suffered long-term depression and anxiety and had previously made suicide attempts.
Dexter had been reluctant to engage with drug dealers and had sought advice and equipment from a shop in King’s Lynn to grow her own cannabis to smoke.
Mr Cooper said she had sold a trailer to “set herself up” and hoped to discreetly cultivate the plants herself so she would not have to be supplied by someone else and enter the “seedy world” of drugs.
Chairman of the bench Jill Skinner said Dexter had been found with a lot of specialist equipment and had been growing the drugs while living with an impressionable 17-year-old son.
Dexter was handed a 26-week prison sentence suspended for two years and was made subject to a 24-month supervision order.
The bench also ordered her to complete 150 hours unpaid work, to pay £85 costs and to take part in a women’s emotional health course.
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2 comments
Another example of why our politicians need to seriously reconsider the UK's policy on cannabis. Unfortunately, the most dangerous aspects of this plant are the criminal connotations that our legislature seems adamant on adhering to it. It's time to legalise and accept the fact that consenting adults should be able to eat, drink, or smoke anything they want. Peace.
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Jacob Bartholomew-Smith
Saturday, September 1, 2012
What a thoroughly despicable way to treat this lady! So she took it upon herself to grow a medicinal plant that we have been using for well over 5000 years. She also had no intention of selling it so what exactly has this got to do with the criminal system? Oh yes! Because ours and many governments around the world have failed to address the use of drugs and the criminal control of them for moral and corrupt reasons people like Mrs Dexter are subject to persecution all because she has made a personal choice of which medicine she wishes to use. The government know cannabis is a medicine that can treat many ailments, including those that Mrs Dexter suffers from, but fails to recognise it as medicine, all the while allowing GW Pharmaceuticals sole license to manufacture and sell Sativex which is a whole cannabis medicine. How can that possibly be? Because our government are corrupt criminals, criminals a million times worse than Mrs Dexter.
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Lee Prew
Friday, August 31, 2012