SEARCH AS CANNABIS MAN GOES MISSING

THE search continued last night for a Carlisle cannabis campaigner
who went missing on the day he was due at court.

Thirty-nine-year-old Alan Mason failed to turn up to be sentenced at
Carlisle Crown Court yesterday morning, sparking fears for his safety.

His lawyers told Judge Anthony Proctor that they were concerned that
Mason - a known suicide risk - may have done himself some harm inside
his flat in Stonegarth, Morton.

Police entered his flat shortly after midday yesterday - after a
warrant was issued for his arrest - but found no sign of him. He had
left a note pinned to the door, addressed to "the pigs and the world"
which said "Ask Betty. you all."

Mason was convicted in December of growing 51 cannabis plants with
intent to supply the drug - a charge he denied. He told the court
during his trial that the plants were for his own use and he needed
cannabis to stop him from killing himself.

Cannabis campaigner Mark Gibson, of the Legalise Cannabis Alliance,
supported Mason throughout his trial. He said last night he was
surprised that Mason had gone missing without any warning to his
friends.

"I didn't know him that well - I attended his trial more in a
professional capacity than anything else,"Mr Gibson said.

"I've no idea where he is but I don't believe that anyone convicted
of having any amount of cannabis should be incarcerated. It does no
good whatsoever."

Mr Gibson said Mason's case had been blown "out of all proportion" by
the authorities. "He had a few plants to help with health problems,"
he added. "He's an ill man who has been dragged through the courts
for growing weeds. I can understand him not wanting to go to prison.
Fair play to him."

Mason's website carried daily updates on the progress of his trial
and conviction - entitled The Day that Justice Died. He had planned
to challenge his prosecution under the Human Rights Act - claiming it
was an infringement of his right to take drugs. That collapsed less
than four days before the trial started because of a High Court
ruling that matters of human rights should not be put before a jury.

He said he was preparing for a period of enforced absence, and he
would have to be carried "kicking and screaming" into a cell.

A Cumbria police spokesman said officers were following a "number of
lines of inquiry" into Mason's disappearance.