Drug farmer confessed £30,000 cannabis harvest to Mansfield police

Paul Mellors attended the station on August 24, 2020, and told officers he had been growing drugs at an address on White Hart Street since May 1, 2019, said prosecutor Sanjay Jerath.

Officers searched the property and found 49 plants which could fetch as much as £30,000, if distributed in certain quantities.

"The defendant is fully aware of the operation and the scale of it," Mr Jerath said, adding that the magistrates' powers of sentence were insufficient.

The starting point for the offence is 12 months, the court was told.

Justin Atkinson, mitigating, said he agreed with the prosecution's submission.

Mellors, 62, now of Glentworth Crescent, Skegness, admitted production of cannabis when he appeared at Mansfield Magistrates Court, on Thursday.

He was given unconditional bail to appear at Nottingham Crown Court on July 15 and a pre-sentence report was ordered.

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