A man has been sentenced to three years in prison after hiding his commercial production of cannabis within straw bales at a farm in Staffordshire.
Mitchell Nicholls, 46, from Birmingham, pleaded guilty to production of cannabis inside a large barn at Brackenhurst Farm, Newchurch, Burton-upon-Trent.
Officers found a series of secret rooms which were completely concealed by straw bales and contained hundreds of cannabis plants.
On the first day of his trial at Stafford Crown Court on Wednesday 14 March, Mr Nicholls pleaded guilty. He was jailed for 38 months.
During the search of the farm, 16kg of skunk flowering cannabis worth approximately £133,000 and £5,000 were seized.
Forensic scientists estimated that the plants seized had the capacity to produce 60.5kgs of skunk cannabis a year, which equated to a street value of £432,142.
Mr Nicholls was arrested in November 2017 at Heathrow Airport on a European Arrest Warrant when he flew back into the country from Switzerland.
He had been on the run in mainland Europe since July 2015 as he refused to hand himself in and return to the UK.
DI Lesley Fowler, of Staffordshire Police’s Major and Organised Crime team, said: “I am pleased with today’s sentencing. The arrest and subsequent conviction of Nicholls are the result of a thorough and meticulous investigation. We are determined to rid our communities of drugs and those intent on their production.
A Proceeds of Crime hearing will be held on 1 June 2018.
