An ex-convict who turned a house into a cannabis factory was caught when he left his old prison card at the property.
Chris Wolff, 59, rented a house shortly after leaving jail and helped convert it into a drugs farm with over 80 plants producing £16,000’s worth of drugs.
Police grew suspicious when they went to the area to deal with a report of fighting and smelled cannabis wafting from the house.
They raided the home and discovered the plants, hydroponics equipment, lighting, timers, extractor fans – and bungling Wolff’s details.
He had fled the property in Canterbury, Kent but left behind his old prison card and a council tax bill in his name.
Drug addict Wolff, who has previous drugs-related convictions, admitted producing the Class B drug and was sent back to prison for another two years.
Robert Conway, defending, said he was “just babysitting” the cannabis production in return for a share of the drugs and £100 a day.
He told Canterbury Crown Court: “He was just a caretaker, but he did know what he was doing. He didn’t have the wherewithal to fund such an operation.
“It was a rather stupid thing to do because the council tax bill and the prison card both had his name on them, so it would always come back to him because he was the tenant.”
Judge Adele Williams told Wolff: “You have a significant number of previous convictions, including the possession of all manner of drugs.
“You had not long been released from prison when you took up this offer to take care the production of cannabis in a residential area.”
