A PROPERTY developer who was hoping to turn the basement of his country house into a swingers' club is in jail - for letting it be used as a huge cannabis factory.

Malcolm Hughlock agreed a £1,000-a-month deal for the hire of the two-storey underground bunker at the home he was building in east Cleveland, a court heard today (Wednesday, March 27).

Hughlock lived with his partner in a caravan on the site while the property - on Serenity Hollows, Boosbeck, and described as his "pension plan" - was being built.

Teesside Crown Court was told that the bespectacled 60-year-old was planning to use the split-level basement of the five-bed development for an adult-only club.

But police raided it in November last year and uncovered what one experienced officer described as one of the most elaborate cannabis farms he had ever seen.

The cellar contained more than 500 plants - potentially worth £100,000 - as well as sophisticated heating, lighting and ventilation equipment and litres of fertiliser.

The court heard how the factory - which had also bypassed the electricity supply - could have produced as much as £400,000 a year in drugs had it not been found.

Police also recovered a block of cannabis resin worth £700 as well as herbal cannabis and amphetamine from the caravan, prosecutor David Crook said.

Hughlock's barrister, Jason Pitter, told the court that although he initially volunteered the use of his home, he was put under pressure to allow it to continue.

"He didn't really appreciate the full scale of what was happening," said Mr Pitter. "He can't say he was naive, but he had no real influence on those above him."

The court heard how Robert Groves, 48, from Essex, was in the house when police raided, and when he was asked what he was doing, replied: "I'm just gardening."

Groves, who admitted producing Class B drugs at an earlier hearing, has since gone missing and there is a warrant out for his arrest, Judge Peter Armstrong was told.

Hughlock pleaded guilty to the same charge as well as possessing two types to cannabis and amphetamine, and abstracting electricity for the "substantial" grow.

Mr Crook told the court: "The house somewhat belies what lay within it . . . a substantial amount of work went on inside what appears to be an innocuous house."

Jailing him for 18 months, Judge Armstrong told Hughlock: "For financial reasons, you were prepared to agree with the co-defendant to allow your house to be used.

"Providing the premises is a significant function. Electricity is a significant operational function within the chain. You were motivated by financial advantage."

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