Bolton: Trio tried to burgle Woodfield Street cannabis farm

Ashley Derbyshire, 32, Cal Smith, 32 and Stephen Lewis, 30 were all discovered by police to have been trying to steal from the house on Woodfield Street Bolton, which had been converted into a cannabis factory, in a effort to steal the plants nearly four years ago.

But police officers came across them right in the middle of their plan, while an investigation found that they had been buying tools in preparation, Bolton Crown Court heard.

Mr Edwards, prosecuting said: “There was clearly significant planning here, items were bought in preparation for the burglary.”

The case was heard at Bolton Crown Court (Image: Newsquest)

He added: “It’s not targeting a vulnerable address, but clearly this address was targeted because of the cannabis farm.”

Mr Edwards told the court how police had seen the three men climbing over a wall into the Woodfield Street house on March 4 2019.

Officers had been alerted after seeing an unoccupied Audi pointing our from a nearby alleyway.

They then confronted the three men who abandoned the attempted burglary.

On investigating the car they had found, officers found it contained a crow bar, B&M receipts and a set of keys belonging to Ashley Derbyshire, of Darwen Road, Bromley Cross.

CCTV footage then showed the trio buying equipment from a nearby branch of the store before the attempted burglary took place.

Police then searched Derbyshire’s home, where they found £420 worth of cannabis and £595 worth of amphetamines in his freezer.

Lewis, of Ivy Road, Bolton was then arrested on April 3 2019 with two balaclavas, two pairs of gloves, two crowbars and a sledgehammer found in the boot of a car at his home, while Smith was also arrested

All three were interviewed by police and eventually pleaded guilty to attempted burglary, while Derbyshire also pleaded guilty to possession of cannabis and amphetamines.

Rebecca Filletti, defending Derbyshire, told the court that her client ‘fully understood’ how serious the situation was but had expressed real remorse in an ‘eloquent letter.’

She said that in the years since the crime took place he had shown ‘real personal growth’ and was now living in a very different and more stable situation.

Ms Filletti also pointed out that no one had been living at the house at the time and that Derbyshire and his two co-defendants knew it would be empty when they burgled it.

This point was echoed by Bredan O’Leary, defending Smith.

He told that court that Smith, of Corvus Close, Ince, had been employed over the last three years at ‘hard working, manual but skilled labour’ which he had ‘stuck at’ for all this time without ever getting in trouble since.

Mr O’Leary also added that the burglary ‘was an attempt, nothing was stolen.’

Finally, Simon Blackbrough, defending Lewis, said he has “demonstrably, completely turned his life around in the last few year.”

He told the court that Lewis had found stable employment and was working towards a bright future.

Mr Blakebrough said: “He really has turned his life around quite dramatically.”

Recorder Michael Maher reminded the court that the trio had been caught ‘red handed’ and commended the police for stopping them.

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He also said that he was concerned stealing from the criminals behind the cannabis factories could result in ‘revenge attacks’ but accepted a suspended sentence could help the men ‘channel their energies in a productive way.

He sentenced each of them to 12 months in prison, suspended for a year and ordered them to carry out 140 hours of unpaid work and 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days each.

Recorder Maher also ordered Derbyshire, Smith and Lewis to pay £330 in costs each.