Law drugs factory boss gets six months jail

His cannabis-growing operation was so well organised that Brian Glidden rented a factory unit in Law to carry it out.
By The Newsroom
Published 30th Jun 2016, 08:49 BST
Updated 30th Jun 2016, 09:53 BST
Rented a factory unit for productionRented a factory unit for production
Rented a factory unit for production

And, when police raided the premises in the village’s Athol Industrial Estate, they found his ‘‘stock’’ of the Class B drug was worth, by one estimate, almost £17,000.

This all emerged at Lanark Sheriff Court on Thursday when 36-year-old Glidden appeared for sentence which had been deferred for background reports to be drawn up on him.

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At an earlier hearing Glidden had pleaded guilty to the charge that, at Unit 3, Athol Industrial Estate, Wildman Road, Law, on March 2 this year he had been involved in the production of cannabis.

Depute Fiscal Mohammed Sarwar said that, acting on information received, police forced entry to the factory unit and quickly found 16 mature cannabis plants plus a plethora of drug-cultivating equipment such as five overhead lights, two fans, a dehumidifier and a set of digital weighing scales.

A further 12 cannabis plants at an early stage of cultivation were found plus evidence of previous production of the drug in the form of 14 bags of waste plant material.

During the raid Glidden was not on the premises but later handed himself into Lanark Police Station. Estimates of the value of the drugs ranged between £11,200 and £16,800. A solicitor for Glidden, of 21 High Overton Street, Netherburn, appealed for a non-custodial sentence, pointing to his client’s previous record of only road traffic offences.

However, Sheriff Scott Pattison said that the growing operation had been ‘‘sophisticated’’ and others must be deterred from similar ventures. He jailed Glidden for six months.