FURY AS CANNABIS GROWERS 'GO FREE'

Residents of a Hull estate say they are furious after two men caught
running a cannabis factory were allowed to walk free.

Police officers arrested the men after raiding an address in Waveney
Road on the Longhill Estate, east Hull, on October 3 this year.

The house in which they lived contained 13 adult plants and about 20
minor plants, along with equipment used to cultivate the drug, all in
two specially adapted rooms in the top of the house.

Two small plants were even found growing in the back garden of the
property.

Officers from the East and Park Neighbourhood Policing Team said
information about the address had come from the community as a result
of the trust that had built up between the police and the public.

But that trust has been now been damaged after community members said
they believe the men got off too lightly after their crime.

One resident, who did not want to be named, said: "They should have
got jail.

"When I was a kid drugs were a big thing, now they get nothing,
they're laughing.

"It's about time the police came down hard on them. They should have
gone to court.

"They're getting away with murder. I have children. I don't want to
give them pocket money and then have them go round there to buy drugs."

Another resident, who also refused to be named, said: "The neighbours
tip police off and for what? We thought it would take the problem
away, but they are back on the streets. And they say crime doesn't
pay. People on the estate are fuming about this."

In a statement, Humberside Police confirmed that a 28-year-old Hornsea
man and a 25-year-old man from Beverley had been arrested in the raid.

No action was taken against the Hornsea man, who did not live at the
address, and the Beverley man was released after being cautioned.

A police spokeswoman said following an investigation officers had
considered this the most appropriate action.

The spokeswoman said: "All equipment to grow the cannabis plants and
the plants themselves have been seized.

"We would encourage members of the public to inform us of any
suspicious drug-related activity in their area."

Labour Councillor John Hewitt, whose Longhill ward includes Waveney
Road, said he would be looking into the situation.