The Paphos Assize Court sentenced a 51-year-old British man to seven years in prison for growing cannabis plants with the intent to distribute.[1] The Peyia resident had been arrested on 9 March 2015 at Kathikas village while on his way to tend 69 cannabis plants growing near the village.[1] He told the court he had only agreed to water the plants for 700 euros a month because of severe financial problems, and that he could not name the three others allegedly involved because he and his family had received death threats.[1] The judge said courts should pass harsh sentences to protect society from drugs, while weighing the man’s confession, clean record and coercion by people who exploited his financial troubles.[1]

The case began with arrests on the evening of 9 March: two British residents were remanded the next day over a grow house set up in one of two adjacent Kathikas villas, where police first reported about 80 plants up to 1.5 metres tall.[2]