Romford man one of two to avoid jail for possessing “unsmokable” cannabis
TWO bungling crooks who hoped to salvage a small fortune from five kilos of discarded cannabis plant cuttings they “found in the street” narrowly avoided jail today, Tuesday.
Tommy Brewer, 39, of Braithwaite Avenue, Romford and Robert Neaster, 31, of Ayres Close, Plaistow were snared in a random police stop with the laundry sacks of worthless twigs in their car.
Prosecutors at first believed they were trafficking valuable skunk and the pair were charged with possessing the drugs with intent to supply, Inner London Crown Court heard.
But it soon emerged the plants had been stripped of their intoxicating leaves, making the chances of getting high from smoking it virtually nil.
Two of the four bags were sodden with water and had a “negligible street value”.
The real crop is believed to have been grown at a nearby a cannabis factory.
The pair claimed in interview they had found the bags at the roadside before being stopped in Barking Road, East Ham, east London.
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They admitted possessing cannabis on the basis they “thought they might get something from it, but it was unsmokable”.
They had been warned by another judge last week that jail was a possibility.
But the judge, Mr Recorder Shane Collery, handed them each 12-month community orders, with 80 hours unpaid work.
He also imposed a three-month curfew, except on Mondays, between 9pm and 6am.
Neaster and Brewer each admitted possessing cannabis on July 4 this year.
