Pensioner grew cannabis to fund son's drug rehab course

A pensioner grew cannabis worth £12,000 to wean his son off drugs with a rehab course. Former oil rig worker Frank Jones, 74, admitted producing nearly 400 grammes of the drug which he told magistrates he believed was worth up to £3,000. He was stunned by the true street value.

After the hearing in Barnsley, he said: “You tell me any parent who sees their son suffering, who would not do just about anything to help them? They said in court the plants I grew had a value of almost £12,000. What, just from a packet of seeds?



“All I wanted was to make £2,500 to get my son into rehab because he has a serious drugs problem.” Police went to his house in ­Worsbrough Common and took the plants. Jones said he was “gobsmacked” when he saw the charges in a letter.

The dad claimed he had not reached the stage of trying to sell the drugs. He said: “Are they telling me those plants are worth all that money? ” He added: “I once worked in Amsterdam and was offered cannabis and said ‘No’. Now I’m being branded as some sort of big time drug dealer.”, He will be sentenced at a later date.