This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-north-east-wales-32850679
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Family sentenced for guesthouse cannabis supply conspiracy | Family sentenced for guesthouse cannabis supply conspiracy |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| A couple and son who admitted conspiring to supply cannabis from their Denbighshire guest house have been given suspended jail terms. | A couple and son who admitted conspiring to supply cannabis from their Denbighshire guest house have been given suspended jail terms. |
| Chemistry teacher Susan McKay decided to grow the drug to help solve family money problems and her son Michael agreed to help, Mold Crown Court heard. | |
| Three "growing zones" were set up in the seven-bed Tall Trees in Llandyrnog and the yield was worth up to £96,000. | |
| Her husband Owen, 73, pleaded guilty on the basis he turned a blind eye. | Her husband Owen, 73, pleaded guilty on the basis he turned a blind eye. |
| Susan McKay, 58, a senior teacher at a Wrexham high school, and Michael McKay, 27, from Huntington, Cheshire, were both given a 20-month jail sentence suspended for 18 months. | |
| Owen McKay was given a five-month term, suspended for 12 months. | Owen McKay was given a five-month term, suspended for 12 months. |
| Smell of cannabis | |
| Prosecutor Matthew Curtis said Michael McKay had been stopped by police near Ruthin in April last year for driving without lights, and when they detected the smell of cannabis they searched his car and found 162g of cannabis worth about £1,620. | |
| He was on his way to his parents' house, which officers then searched. | |
| Inside they found three bedrooms which were devoted to growing cannabis with a black growing tent, silver foil and ventilation tubes. | |
| One bathroom was being used as a drying room and a total of 115 cannabis plants were being grown. | |
| Mrs McKay's defence barrister, Duncan Bould, told the court the guest house owner had a seriously ill son, Christopher, and another son, Daniel, had killed himself last year. | |
| The court was also told she discovered her husband had been having an affair for 10 years and had a child with his business partner. | The court was also told she discovered her husband had been having an affair for 10 years and had a child with his business partner. |
| Family difficulties | |
| Because of the family difficulties, and financial struggles, she came up with the idea to grow cannabis. | Because of the family difficulties, and financial struggles, she came up with the idea to grow cannabis. |
| Mr Bould said: "None of these she uses as excuses for her behaviour but perhaps it provides some explanation why a person like her behaves in this bizarre and frankly ridiculous way. | |
| "We are dealing with an intelligent, dignified and mature woman who has been in responsible employment all her adult life and is still in a job." | |
| The court heard Michael McKay is a personal trainer who hopes to compete in this weekend's GB Elite Three Nations boxing competition, and hopes to represent England at next year's Olympics. | |
| He got involved in growing drugs "in support of his mother", Mr Bould told the court. | |
| Michael Jones, for Owen McKay, said he was working hard six days a week at his Warrington garage and there was no forensic evidence to link him to the cannabis in the house. | |
| Although the crop - grown between December 2013 and April 2014 - was significant, it was never actually sold, the court heard. |