'NO SOFTER SENTENCES' AS DRUGS TRIO JAILED

Judge: Cannabis Downgrade Hasn't Changed View

Cannabis growers and dealers will not get softer sentences despite the
Government downgrading the drug, Reading's top judge has ruled.

Judge Stanley Spence rejected arguments that the reclassification of
cannabis from class B to C should reduce sentences as he jailed three
men behind what is believed to be the biggest cannabis factory
discovered in Britain.

Jed Murphy, the man described as one of the organisers, was jailed for
seven and a half years while his two helpers Ian Rollinson and Keith
Alexander were sentenced to five years and four and a half years.

Police found 10,000 plants growing in an elaborate hydroponics set-up
at the Belscott industrial estate in Finchampstead in April. They
estimate it could have yielded crops worth UKP 1.5 million every year.

Cannabis was downgraded in January -- ironically the day after Murphy
and his cohorts began growing the drug -- and Patricia Harding,
defending Rollinson, tried to convince Judge Spence it meant the
Government also intended sentences were cut too.

But Judge Spence, residing judge at Reading Crown Court, said on
Friday that the change was intended to see fewer people arrested for
possession but concentrated efforts aimed at growers and dealers.

"Whether it has been reclassified or not makes no difference to the
previous guidance for this enterprise," he said.

"It is still a prohibited drug and there has been an increase for
massive trafficking cases, which lends weight to my view it has not
altered previous guidelines."

He added: "Considerable harm was intended by the release of this drug
on the market.

"There are different views but one fairly consistent view is that
nobody starts on drugs without starting on cannabis.

"That might not be strictly accurate but it certainly leads a lot of
people on to hard drugs." His comments were welcomed by detectives
from Thames Valley Police's crime and drugs investigation unit, which
raided the unit and neighbouring Thatched Cottage in Reading Road.

DC Steve Jones said: "There has been considerable public debate about
the merits of police enforcing cannabis laws since the
reclassification but Judge Spence's comments show it must continue to
be done. This shows to me the courts take cannabis very seriously.

"The reclassification means potentially fewer people may get
prosecuted for possession but he has clearly given a strong message
that those who distribute and produce it will be dealt with as
severely as in the past."

Rollinson, 41, was the caretaker at the site while Alexander helped
build some of the set-up.

Murphy was living rent free in the UKP 800,000 cottage next door.

Both properties were owned by Murphy's friend and multi-millionaire
businessman Kevin Cox, who told the court he knew nothing of the dope
factory.

Rollison, of Carshalton, and Alexander, 42, of Hemel Hempstead,
admitted conspiracy to cultivate cannabis.

Murphy, 35, admitted possession of a tasar stun gun found in the
cottage and seven deception offences, for which he received an extra
18 months, making a total of nine years.