Shropshire Star

Pensioner who tipped off police to cannabis farm wins appeal

A pensioner who led police to a flourishing cannabis farm has seen his jail term more than halved by senior judges in London.

Published

Keith Rider Collier, 70, now of The Square, Abertillery, tipped off police when lodging an assault complaint on New Year’s Eve 2015.

They raided the property in Newtown and found a growing operation in place, with a potential drugs yield worth almost £70,000.

Collier admitted producing and possessing cannabis with intent to supply and was jailed for five years at Caernarfon Crown Court last March.

But today, after an appeal by his lawyers, three top judges slashed the “excessive” sentence to two years and three months.

Judge Christopher Kinch QC said the unusual way in which the offence came to light justified the cut. Collier had told police he had been assaulted and confessed that there were drugs growing in the property where he was staying in Newtown.

However, he apologised, refusing to say any more about the offence and refusing to explain why he had contacted police.

His lawyers today argued that he had been under the “influence” or “threatened” by others.

Sentencing him last year, a crown court judge said Collier had played a “leading role” in the drug production operation.

But Judge Kinch, sitting with Lord Justice Holroyde and Mrs Justice McGowan at the Court of Appeal, cast doubt on the level of Collier’s role.

“If he was truly in a leading role in a significant commercial operation, it seems hard to understand why he would go to police knowing he was exposing the whole operation to discovery,” he said.

“This would seem a further indicator that his role and the scale of his offending may have been overestimated.

“In the circumstances, the sentence will be replaced by a sentence of 27 months imprisonment.”