Mitchell Nicholls, 46, of Shard End, Birmingham, admitted producing cannabis on the first day of his trial at Stafford Crown Court on Wednesday 14 March and was jailed for 38 months.[1][2] Nicholls had been forensically linked through fingerprints to a highly sophisticated hydroponic cannabis grow, professionally concealed in a large barn at Brackenhurst Farm, Newchurch, Burton upon Trent.[1][2]
A factory behind straw bales
Detectives executed a warrant at the farm on 26 March 2015 and found secret rooms completely concealed by straw bales, holding hundreds of cannabis plants alongside 16 kg of flowering skunk cannabis worth about £133,000 and £5,000 in cash.[1][2] Forensic scientists estimated the plants could produce 60.5 kg of skunk a year with a street value of £432,142, and investigators said the factory had run for at least two years with expansion plans under way.[1][2]
Flight and capture
Nicholls had been on the run in mainland Europe since July 2015, refusing to hand himself in, until his arrest at Heathrow Airport the previous November on a European arrest warrant after flying in from Switzerland.[1][2] The judge said he played a significant role in the commercial production of cannabis at the farm.[1][2] Two other men, Ian Locke and Martin Young, had been jailed in January 2017 over the same farm, receiving two years three months and three years two months after admitting production and possession with intent to supply.[1][2]
