Moemen Al-Seddeik, 37, was sentenced at Lewes Crown Court on 29 October 2026 for a cannabis farm in the loft of his home in Southview Road, Southwick.[1] Recorder David Brock gave him a three-year prison sentence suspended for three years and 300 hours of unpaid work, the maximum available.[1] Brock said the term was at the very top of the range that new sentencing guidelines allowed to be suspended.[1] He said he was prepared to suspend it only because Al-Seddeik had no previous convictions.[1] He told Al-Seddeik that any offence in the next three years would mean serving the sentence.[1]
Police raided the house on 6 September 2023, when Al-Seddeik was at home with his girlfriend and a housemate.[1] They found 49 cannabis plants in the loft.[1] Officers also seized containers with 25.3g of cocaine, scales, bags, large bags of cannabis, phones and £9,805 in cash.[1] The plants were seven to eight weeks old, and experts estimated they would have been worth £15,200 to £43,660 when fully grown.[1]
Prosecutor Ava Zoccola said the electricity meter had been bypassed so that power use was not recorded.[1] EDF Energy estimated 12,042 hours of unmetered use at £2,715.18.[1] Al-Seddeik told police he had used YouTube videos to learn how to tamper with the meter.[1]
He said all the plants were his, that he had started growing them three months earlier, and that he had sold none.[1] He said he had been trying to fund leg surgery for his father.[1] He also said he had sold cocaine for a man called Ali, who paid him £1,000 to £2,000 a week.[1] He said Ali had threatened him after he stopped.[1] He believed the raid followed a complaint from another dealer who was angry he no longer wanted to sell cocaine for him.[1] No order for costs was made because a proceeds of crime application is pending.[1]