A woman used her girlfriend's cafe to grow thousands of pounds worth of cannabis after the business got into debt during lockdown.
"She stated the scales were to weigh up others so she could make sue she wasn't getting ripped off. She said the electric was bypassed but someone else did that but refused to name them." Mitigating for Wasley, Holly Clegg, said she was addicted to cannabis and Covid was having a major impact on the business and post-Covid it "never really recovered". Ms Clegg said: "She told me she wanted to be a hero and save Claire Webb. She entered into an agreement with the person she buys cannabis off to get them out of debt.
Mitigating for Webb, Andrew Semple said: "It's out of character for a 42-year-old woman with a strong work ethic to find herself in this position." The barrister said she had found the process "daunting" and "stressful" and "mortifying" when people who she knew found out what had happened at the cafe. He said: "In the two years since she has regained her character in the sense of not offending again.