A NEWPORT man who was found with £100,000 worth of cannabis plants in his garden shed has been sentenced to more than three years in prison.

Robert Andrews, aged 47, of Ash Tree Cottage in Allt-Yr-Yn, previously pleaded guilty to a single charge of possession with intent to supply a Class B drug at Newport Magistrates Court on May 22. He had been on remand for the offence.

Andrews also pleaded guilty to two other charges: production of a Class B drug; and possessing a dangerous dog.

Newport Crown Court heard how police first executed a warrant at Andrews’ address at Ash Tree Cottage on December 14, 2013.

They discovered 16 cannabis plants in insulated kennels at the bottom of his garden. They were 70-80cm tall with an 800g yield and a street value of £3,000.

In his police interview, Andrews said he smoked it every day and grew his own for financial reasons. Andrews was bailed for the offence but was not charged.

On March 11, 2015, a member of the public phoned the police, saying that there was a smell of cannabis in the air.

A warrant was again executed on Andrews’ address at Ash Tree Cottage and 149 plants that were “recently cropped” were found hanging from the ceiling of his garden shed. The plants, weighing 14kg, had a wholesale value of around £56,000 with a street value of more than £100,000.

Lamps, bulbs, filters, nutrients and a copy of the Cannabis Grow Bible were also discovered. Two phones were also found, with one sent message from Andrews in September 2014 detailing how to buy lighting equipment from eBay.

In the kennels of the garden, a pitbull called Nancy was discovered. Examined by a police dog handler, it was found to be “friendly” and “well cared for” but was prohibited under section one of the 1991 Dangerous Dogs Act.

In his police interview, Andrews claimed that he had been threatened to mind the plants in his shed by two men just a day previously.

Defending, Owain Williams said that Andrews was not a man of “great means”, claiming that he was heavily in debt, and that was the reason why he “pursued this type of criminality”.

Summing up, Paul Lewis QC took into account Andrews’ early guilty pleas but said that, in playing a “significant role”, he was motivated by “financial advantage”.

He handed down an eight-month sentence for the production of cannabis offence; a 32-month consecutive sentence for the possession with intent to supply charge; and a one-month concurrent sentence for the possession of a dangerous dog charge.

Mr Lewis also ordered the destruction of the dog, but adjourned a destruction and forfeiture order for the cannabis plants to a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing on September 15.