Man jailed after cannabis factory found in Pomeroy cottages

A 34-YEAR-OLD man has been jailed for five years after falsely claiming a tenant was responsible for a cannabis grow operation at his cottages near Pomeroy.

Moaaz Hassan, of Hillhall Road, Lisburn, was sentenced at Dungannon Crown Court on Wednesday for multiple offences committed between June and September 2019.

He was charged with cultivating cannabis, dishonestly using electricity, perverting the course of justice, and possession of cannabis.

The court heard that on June 11, 2019, police attended two separate cottages in the Pomeroy area and discovered a total of 56 mature cannabis plants.

In one of the properties, officers also found seedlings, grow bags, cannabis dryers, dealing bags, and other drug-related equipment.

Further searches revealed that the electricity meters in both cottages had been tampered with.

Hassan’s fingerprints were later found on the equipment, and it was determined that more than £5,000 worth of electricity had been illegally diverted.

In September 2019, police arrested Hassan at his Belfast address, where a small quantity of cannabis was also found.

During interview, Hassan claimed he had rented the properties to another man, producing a signed tenancy agreement and other documents.

However, the documents were later found to be fake. Police described Hassan’s setup as ‘capable of industrial quantity use’.

Judge Brian Sherrard noted Hassan’s previous convictions for drug offences, which had already resulted in suspended sentences a year before the Pomeroy offences. While Hassan did enter guilty pleas, the judge said this was undermined by his failure to appear for sentencing in 2021.

He sentenced Hassan to five years in total, half to be served in custody and the remainder on licence.