Go-kart worker jailed 4.5 years over Ayr cannabis farm
Paul Costa, a 35-year-old go-kart worker, was jailed for four and a half years at the High Court in Glasgow for producing and supplying cannabis from more than 100 plants hidden inside the Emotion Karting centre in Ayr between 2013 and 2015.
Paul Costa, a 35-year-old go-kart worker, grew more than 100 cannabis plants in
a concealed area of the Emotion Karting centre in Ayr between February 2013 and
February 2015.[1][2]Police raided the site and found high-powered lamps and
other growing equipment alongside the crop, which the court valued at up to
£100,000.[1][2]
Costa denied responsibility at his trial at the High Court in Glasgow, claiming
he had found the farm and was trying to catch the culprit when detectives
raided the complex.[1]The court heard he had trawled the internet for
growing tips, including a video titled “how to properly dry cannabis”, and
police found his fingerprints in the growing area and his DNA on a juice can.[1][2]
Sentence
The jury rejected his account and convicted him of producing and supplying
cannabis.[1]He was then sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow to four and
a half years in prison.[2]
Case data
Every number and detail the sources state, with the sources that state it.
Callum Roper, 22, of Holton Road, Barry, was jailed for 30 months at Cardiff Crown Court after admitting offences involving the supply of cannabis and magic mushrooms. He pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of both drugs between 3 December 2025 and 14 September 2026 and had been remanded in custody awaiting sentence.
Bolton Crown Court sentenced seven members of three linked drug gangs that trafficked cocaine and cannabis between Manchester, Stoke-on-Trent and North Wales. Five men received prison sentences of up to eleven and a half years, while two couriers received community orders and two leaders await later sentencing.
Daniel Thompson, 36, was found with 8,223.6 grams of cannabis resin, valued at up to £35,950, when officers searched a house on Moss Side Lane in Rixton in July 2023. Chester Crown Court gave him a nine-month prison sentence suspended for 12 months and 100 hours of unpaid work after he admitted possessing the resin with intent to supply and possessing cocaine.
Sentenced 1Cannabis 8.2236 kgPrison 9 months suspended for 12 months
Bradford Crown Court jailed Alfie Leahy, 21, for five years and Connor Broadbent, 26, for three years and four months over drugs found when police raided two homes in the Holmewood area at dawn on 17 July 2026. Cannabis was seized at a Grayswood Crescent address and cocaine, cash and jewellery at Dawson Street; police put the total street value of the drugs at more than £22,000.
Charged 2Prison 5 years (Leahy); 3 years and 4 months (Broadbent)
