Shiva-worshipping home cannabis factory couple cleared of supply charge

Cannabis growers who said they were going to burn the drug as part of a spiritual offering to a Hindu god have been cleared of dealing the drug. Katarzyna Dryden-Chouen and her husband Clive admitted growing cannabis at their Littledean home but said they never intended to sell it. A jury cleared the pair of possession with intent to supply and laundering more than £250,000 of cash that had gone into Katarzyna's bank account.



Gloucester Crown Court heard that when police busted her home, in her lounge was a shrine to the Hindu God of Shiva, who has a close association with hemp. Prosecutor Paul Grumbar said diaries written by Katarzyna found in her meditation room, detailed her cultivation of the crops, including watering and feeding. The 46-year-old, who claimed in court to have a talking mouse, said she honestly believed the world would end last December and so had been growing it ahead of a ritual before that happened.

She maintained she did not realise it was illegal to grow and said she used to smoke it when she was meditating, which she did for up to nine hours a day. Her racing driver husband Clive, 60, a former bankrupt, said he shared her views and said vast quantities of cash in the bank, and at their home, was from his business. Following the not guilty verdicts, the court heard Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs would be informed, because Clive admitted he had not paid tax on the cash.



Clive's son Ashley Chouings, 32, of Glastonbury, had also been in the dock, but was cleared of charges against him following a direction by the judge earlier in the 15-day trial. Katarzyna was found not guilty of possession of cannabis with intent to supply and possession of diazepam with intent to supply. Katarzyna and Clive were also cleared of possession of cannabis, with intent to supply, money laundering £277,559 and possession of £12,890 of cash in criminal property. All three were found not guilty of possession of cannabis with intent to supply and Chouings was cleared of money laundering £17,980. The married couple admitted production of cannabis and will be sentenced for that at a later date.