A MAN arrested at the scene after police uncovered a cannabis farm in a disused church building may be facing more charges following a further find of quantities of the drug.
Paul McAllister was found hiding in loft space in the former Methodist Church, in Wheatley Hill, on May 20.
Police attended the boarded-up building, in Dodds Close, acting on, “community intelligence”.
Officers found large quantities of the drug being cultivated, while attempts had been made to bypass the electricity metre to provide free power for the grow.
McAllister, 44, of Oldham, Greater Manchester, admitted producing cannabis and abstracting electricity at a magistrates’ court hearing the next day and the case was committed to Durham Crown Court, for sentence.
But, when it was heard at the crown court, prosecutor Shaun Dryden said there are ongoing scientific and forensic inquiries being made by Derbyshire Police over an amount of cannabis found in two oil drums at a farm run by McAllister’s mother.
Mr Dryden said McAllister’s seized phone and lap-top computer may still require further investigation.
He added that the outcome all those inquiries may have a bearing on how significant a role was played by the defendant.
Judge James Adkin agreed to Mr Dryden’s request for the sentencing hearing to be adjourned, agreeing to put the case back to June 29.
McAllister will remain remanded in custody until that hearing.
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