Suspicious smell 'weeds' out dodgy tenants

Cousins Mark Robbins and Sean Keenan were foiled by their landlord, after he caught a whiff of cannabis outside the property and alerted the police to the unusual aroma. His suspicion had already been peaked by unusually high electricity bills.

After checking the property, Hartlepool Police found 23 plants - worth nearly £10,000 – being grown in the property.

The tenants had previous convictions for various offences, including drug offences, with Keenan having a history of running multiple drugs farms from the same property in 2009.

The pair were found guilty, after admitting in front of judges to production of a Class B Drug, leaving Keenan facing 13 months in jail, and Robbins looking at nine months.