A dad of six cannabis farmer from Warrington in remission from cancer made an impassioned plea to a judge to give him a chance and spare him from prison saying, “There’s a lot of good in me.”
Urging him not to jail him Dean Tarry read out a letter he had written saying, “I can honestly say I am too old for this lifestyle. Prison will not help me.”
He told how he had turned his life around and taken part in courses and got a job. He also raises money for cancer research, being in remission from the illness himself.
The 34-year-old dad-of-six admitted, “I have made some poor choices in my life. I didn’t have the best of starts and I don’t condone anything I have done and I have to accept the consequences of my actions.”
The judge, Recorder Kendrick Horne said he had considered all his mitigation but pointed out he had a poor history of compliance with court orders and jailed him for six months.
As Tarry, formerly of Barham Court, Birchwood, Warrington, was led to the cells he reached over the security screen to hug and kiss his sister who was in the public gallery.
Tarry pleaded guilty to producing cannabis and possessing an offensive weapon, an extendable baton in a private place.
Iain Criddle, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court that police raided Tarry’s Warrington home on February 9 last year where his partner and two children were present.
He ran off but came back and while there officers found a room on the second floor which had been turned into a cannabis farm with heating, lighting and fans.
There were 17 cannabis plants growing with a potential street value of up to £16,800, said Mr Criddle.
His mobile telephone was seized and messages were found showing he had been involved in buying and selling cannabis. In his kitchen, an extendable baton was discovered.
“He said someone had given it to him as he had had a bit of trouble from people wanting the cannabis,” said Mr Criddle.
When arrested and interviewed Tarry said he would have kept five cannabis plants and given the other 12 to the person he was growing it for.
He said there were six children in the house and he had been under pressure to grow the plants.
The court heard that he has 58 previous convictions for 81 offences including two for producing cannabis, stalking, violence and dishonesty.
Paul Becker, defending, said that Tarry, who is working as an NHS cleaner, had owed £1,800 “and he was told if he grew cannabis it would wipe off his debt.”
He had been using cannabis to alleviate the effects of the chemotherapy he had after his cancer diagnosis and he also suffers from anxiety and depression.
Asking the judge to give Tarry a chance Mr Becker said, “Although it is a gamble he knows at his age now it is time to deliver and be true to his word.”
Jailing the defendant Recorder Horne said that by growing cannabis in his home he had exposed his children to the risk of both harmful chemicals and someone breaking in to steal the plants.
