Susan Patton and son Craig Hubbard, from Sturry, set up cannabis factory with seeds from UK Skunkworks

phooper@thekmgroup.co.uk

Published: 00:01, 27 July 2015

A mum and son bought cannabis seeds from a city shop before setting up their own drugs factory on a village housing estate, a court has been told.

Susan Patton, 43, and Craig Hubbard, 21, had 57 plants growing in the bedrooms of their home in Park View, Sturry, when they were raided by officers.

The pair were rumbled after a neighbour noticed the distinctive scent of the Class B drug and alerted police.

Patton told officers she bought the seeds to grow the illicit plants from UK Skunkworks, which has a branch in Northgate, Canterbury.

Both mother and son escaped immediate jail sentences after admitting possessing and cultivating cannabis plants in December last year.

Ian Foinette, prosecuting, said mum-of-two Patton told how she bought further equipment before setting up the operation, including lights and extraction systems.

She later told police that one of the bedrooms had been set up by an ex-boyfriend before she took it over.

The seeds were bought from the UK Skunkworks shop in Canterbury

Mr Foinette said: “She grew all the plants and consulted various sites on the internet to find out how to grow them, and then dried them and prepared the cannabis buds until she could sell them, although she hadn’t actually sold any.”

The judge, recorder Cairns Nelson QC, quipped that the commercial supply had been “nipped in the bud”.

Phil Rowley, for Patton, said the background to the offending was a history of mental health issues affecting her son “and the fact that he believed cannabis helped”.

Mr Rowley added: “For what was a misguided but genuine belief that she was assisting her son, she began growing it. It became obvious the yield was greater than they would need and it just mushroomed.