Man who turned council home into cannabis factory evicted

Published by Jon Land for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Communities, Local Government

A Sheffield man who turned his home into a cannabis factory has been evicted.

Lee Petch, of Shay Road, Stocksbridge, who was jailed for nine months in May after pleading guilty to production of a Class B drug, has now lost his home.

Officers raided the property in March and found Petch had converted one of his bedrooms into a cannabis factory, bypassing an electricity meter and adding extra power sockets to cultivate his crop.

Sheffield Homes, which manages Sheffield’s council housing, was granted a possession order on the basis that Petch had breached his tenancy agreement.

The judge ,who agreed to the order, said the matter was ‘very very serious indeed’ and the cannabis factory had posed a ‘risk of danger of fire’ which was ‘potentially disastrous’.

Loraine Greeves, anti-social behaviour team manager for Sheffield Homes, said: “We will not tolerate criminal activity taking place in any of our properties and will take swift action, in partnership with the police, to tackle it.

“Tenants are well aware of their tenancy conditions when they sign up so if they are caught breaking them, they must face the consequences - on this occasion, Mr Petch lost his home.”