A Basildon man caught growing over £50,000 worth of cannabis has told a court his mum “gave me a right bollocking”.
Jake Lazarus, 34, of Cheshunts, has pleaded guilty to a single charge of producing cannabis.
Prosecutor Hollie Davies told Basildon Crown Court that Essex Police had raided Lazarus’s home and found 2.5 kilograms of dried cannabis “in various bags and pots”, with a potential street value of around £18,000.
Officers also found 18 cannabis plants capable of yielding up to another £50,000 worth of cannabis, she added.
Lazarus, who works as a steel fixer at a concrete firm, attended what was supposed to be his sentencing on Wednesday (September 9) without a lawyer.
“As soon as I got arrested, I held me hands up and said it was mine and all that,” he told Recorder Tony Badenoch.
“I got arrested straight from work and just held me hands up and didn’t get a solicitor.”
His mum told him to consult the duty solicitor when he appeared at magistrates’ court, he said, but then the crown court hearing came up so quickly he hadn’t had time to sort out representation.
“You are at risk of a prison sentence,” Recorder Tony Badenoch warned him. “If you are at risk of a prison sentence, you should get yourself represented.”
He ordered a probation pre-sentence report on Lazarus and asked him whether he was still living at the same property.
Lazarus replied that he was.
“What is the state of the address currently?” asked the judge. “Is there loads of cannabis round there?”
“No, of course not,” Lazarus replied. “I’ve only ever done that twice and got caught, and it’s my mum’s house. She gave me a right bollocking.”
Recorder Badenoch adjourned sentencing to late November and told Lazarus it was in his interests to cooperate with the probation service.
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