[420 Girl]

UK - A Cannabis "gardener" from Peterborough has been allowed to walk free from court because police and prosecutors took six years to bring him to justice.

Michael Caborn (29) was involved in the growing of dozens of marijuana plants which were seized from a city house along with other drugs in 2002.
But it was not until this week he finally appeared in court for sentencing – even though he gave himself up to police on another matter two years ago.

A judge at Peterborough Crown Court said he was "completely baffled" at the "absolutely unbelievable" delay in securing a conviction against the defendant.

And because such a long time had elapsed since the crime was committed, Caborn was spared what should have been a spell behind bars and given a suspended sentence instead.

Recorder Peter Rouch QC told him: "You must understand that the cultivation of cannabis is a serious matter, and in the ordinary course of events it merits a custodial sentence.

"For a variety of reasons, I can suspend the term in your case. The main reason is because of the age of the offence. It is more than six years old and the reason for the delay is not yours."

The court was earlier told the charges originated from a police raid on a house in Peterborough in February 2002.

More than 80 cannabis plants with a potential value of about £1,900 were found in the property along with a bag of "skunk" marijuana.

Caborn, of Ullswater Avenue in Gunthorpe, Peterborough, was implicated only in the cultivation of the cannabis plants, which the court heard he watered for his own "personal use".

But it was not until May of this year that he pleaded guilty to being concerned in the production of the drug, and prosecutors could not give a reason for the delay.

Recorder Rouch said: "It has been six years. I don't understand. I'm completely baffled."

Gregory Perkins, mitigating, told the judge his client had even handed himself into a police station after being stopped and asked for his driving documents, but the outstanding offence was not picked up.

Before passing sentence, the judge was forced to look up outdated sentencing rules because cannabis was still a class B drug when the offence was committed, rather than the class C drug it is at the moment.

Caborn was eventually given an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for one year, and was ordered to pay £270 costs.

After sentencing, he told The Evening Telegraph he had no idea why his case was delayed.

"I have lived at the same address all my life so it wasn't as if they couldn't have tracked me down," he said.

A police spokesman said: "We are looking into why there was a delay between Mr Caborn's arrest and his eventual sentence."

A spokeswoman for the Crown Prosecution Service said Caborn was arrested in February 2008 after his fingerprints were matched with those at the raided house. "It took so long because the police were unable to trace him," she added.

http://www.420magazine.com/forums/in...get-court.html