Judge's fury at guidelines 'that stop him jailing cannabis farmer' despite local epidemic
By James Tozer
Last updated at 11:28 PM on 15th February 2012
A judge has criticised new sentencing guidelines which he said left him with no choice but to free a man who had grown thousands of pounds worth of cannabis.
Judge Michael Murphy told 33-year-old Craig Cupit that if he had appeared before him a few months ago he would have been jailed.
Instead, despite the discovery of eight cannabis plants capable of producing £8,960 worth of the drug in the tattooed bodybuilder's cellar, he said he had no choice but to give him a community penalty.
Cannabis farmer Craig Cupit was given a 12-month community order despite a judge indicating that he wanted to jail the 33-year-old
Judge Murphy said: 'For weeks and months, I have been saying in these courts that the production of cannabis in this area is at epidemic levels, yet here we are being given guidelines which completely dilute our powers.'
He said the last time he dealt with a list of cases for sentencing, three-quarters involved prosecutions for the production of cannabis.
He told Sheffield Crown Court he was effectively bound by guidelines to be introduced by the Sentencing Council for England and Wales next month, which require judges to consider freeing small-scale drug producers who don't supply others. He added: 'I don't want to be, but that is what the law says.'
Judge Murphy told Cupit: 'If you had been in front of this court six months ago you would have been going to prison, but the law has changed. Many of us find it difficult to understand why.'
The court heard that police raided Cupit's home on September 29 last year and found a cannabis production set-up in his cellar capable of producing nearly 900g of the drug. Cupit, of Swinton, near Rotherham, admitted producing cannabis.
Barrister Dermot Hughes said Cupit used cannabis to alleviate the pain of an injured knee, stressing it had been for his own use.
Judge Murphy, sitting at Sheffield Crown Court (pictured), said cannabis production in the area was happening at an 'epidemic' level
Judge Murphy gave Cupit a 12-month community order with supervision and ordered him to attend a victim awareness group.
Cupit had posted 'Wish me luck' on his Facebook page, and then 'I'm home' after he was sentenced, to which one friend replied: 'Knew you would be!'
In a separate case, the same judge said the new guidelines were 'confusing' and a 'lottery' as he gave Sheffield shop owner Neil Tyler, 53, a suspended jail term for producing cannabis worth £3,200.
'Baffling laws': Judge Murphy said many cases before him involved cannabis production (file picture)
The court heard that Tyler grew between 16 and 24 plants to combat pain from an insect bite.
Judge Murphy said the guidelines 'troubled' and 'baffled' him, adding: 'We are trying to get some common sense out of it.'
He finally gave Tyler a four-month prison term suspended for 12 months and ordered him to complete 120 hours of unpaid community work.
During the past five years, police in Sheffield alone have seized cannabis with a street value of £40million. Just last September the Recorder of Sheffield, Judge Alan Goldsack, said he would jail anybody growing cannabis even if it was a first offence.
Last month he jailed cancer sufferer Carl Walker, 32, for nine months after he admitted producing 50 cannabis plants with an estimated yield of £20,000 at his home in Barnsley.
The Sentencing Council last night stressed that no law had been changed, only the guidelines, adding that judges did not need to apply them until the end of the month.
It said drug producers who supplied others on a large scale could receive tougher sentences under the new arrangements and insisted they did not 'in any way' reduce sentences for those who produced smaller quantities of drugs.
The new system grades offenders in terms of the amount of drug they produce and their role in the operation. But even under the new rules, users such as Cupit who produce around 1kg of cannabis can be jailed.
'Guidelines should be followed,' a Sentencing Council spokesman said.
'However, where a judge feels it is not in the interests of justice to do so, they can sentence outside of the guideline and up to the maximum set out by law.
Wednesday 15 February 2012
Judge's fury at guidelines 'that stop him jailing cannabis farmer' despite local epidemic | Mail Online
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