Men sentenced over underground drug farms in Skendleby

Two men have been given suspended jail terms after cannabis worth up to £800,000 was found in underground bunkers.

Police raided a farm at Skendleby, Lincolnshire, on 3 September 2020, after being tipped off by their counterparts in Spain.

Four shipping containers, each housing a sophisticated cannabis farm, were found buried 20ft (about 6m) underground, Lincoln Crown Court heard.

Officers discovered the entrances hidden in barns, where livestock including 22 horses and a llama was also found.

Nathan Allen, 39, of Werrington Bridge Road, Peterborough, was sentenced to two years in jail, suspended for two years, after he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce and supply cannabis and possession of a firearm without a certificate.

Kyle Robinson, 33, of Willoughby Road, Alford, was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment, suspended for two years, after he also admitted conspiracy to supply cannabis.

The court heard Robinson had pleaded guilty on a basis that he was initially employed to look after the animals on the farm, but then switched to the security of the cannabis grow without ever entering the bunkers.

Allen admitted playing a limited role because of a debt, but had only entered one bunker, where he took a “selfie.”

Lincolnshire Police spent eight days searching the site after a tip off from the Guardia Civil.

The bunkers contained more than 600 cannabis plants, the court was told.

Recorder Simon King accepted a considerable period of time had passed since the discovery and that Robinson was now a “changed man.”

The judge told Allen he had admitted a greater involvement in the operation, but would avoid an immediate jail sentence by the “skin of his teeth”.

A third man, Tony Owen, 36, of Bretton, Peterborough, is due to be sentenced for his part in the operation on 15 December.