rema
Well-Known Member
This out of my local newspaper.
Husband and wife horse breeders from Newquay appeared in court to admit cultivating and supplying cannabis - even though the prosecution admitted they had actually been growing hemp bedding for their horses.Linda Beck, 54, from Whitecross, grew widely available hemp core fibre to make a bed for her show horse Harlyn Polly Flinders, a grand-daughter of Shergar.
But Devon and Cornwall police officers accused she and husband Harold of having a cannabis farm - and the Crown Prosecution Service pressed charges.
This week at Truro Crown Court a barrister explained to a judge how "you would need a huge pipe" to smoke harmless hemp core fibre as a drug.
Mr and Mrs Beck accepted a conditional discharge - but only if the CPS admitted they grew the hemp "for the purpose of horse bedding".
Prosecuting counsel Ron Ede explained: "There is a somewhat tortuous history to this case, as hemp is grown and I understand sold quite cheaply for horse bedding."
And defence counsel Robert Linford protested: "I've brought here some pictures of some very happy horses bedded down in cannabis.
"It makes a warm and comfortable bed," he explained, and went on: "They grow this stuff by the field-full. You'd need a huge pipe to smoke it and get any effect." After the case Mrs Beck explained: "I was chatting to an exhibitor at a local horse show, admiring his horse's shiny, clean coat, and he told me it was all due to hemp bedding he produced.
"So I arranged to go back and get some from him at the next show. Apparently hemp core bedding is much more eco-friendly, so we thought that would be better.
"It's also much cleaner and more comfortable for the horses. The next thing the police were accusing me of drug dealing." Mr Beck, 55, added: "It may have all been horseplay in court, but we have had a very worrying and distressing year."
Husband and wife horse breeders from Newquay appeared in court to admit cultivating and supplying cannabis - even though the prosecution admitted they had actually been growing hemp bedding for their horses.Linda Beck, 54, from Whitecross, grew widely available hemp core fibre to make a bed for her show horse Harlyn Polly Flinders, a grand-daughter of Shergar.
But Devon and Cornwall police officers accused she and husband Harold of having a cannabis farm - and the Crown Prosecution Service pressed charges.
This week at Truro Crown Court a barrister explained to a judge how "you would need a huge pipe" to smoke harmless hemp core fibre as a drug.
Mr and Mrs Beck accepted a conditional discharge - but only if the CPS admitted they grew the hemp "for the purpose of horse bedding".
Prosecuting counsel Ron Ede explained: "There is a somewhat tortuous history to this case, as hemp is grown and I understand sold quite cheaply for horse bedding."
And defence counsel Robert Linford protested: "I've brought here some pictures of some very happy horses bedded down in cannabis.
"It makes a warm and comfortable bed," he explained, and went on: "They grow this stuff by the field-full. You'd need a huge pipe to smoke it and get any effect." After the case Mrs Beck explained: "I was chatting to an exhibitor at a local horse show, admiring his horse's shiny, clean coat, and he told me it was all due to hemp bedding he produced.
"So I arranged to go back and get some from him at the next show. Apparently hemp core bedding is much more eco-friendly, so we thought that would be better.
"It's also much cleaner and more comfortable for the horses. The next thing the police were accusing me of drug dealing." Mr Beck, 55, added: "It may have all been horseplay in court, but we have had a very worrying and distressing year."
