News
Trial for Whitland ‘cannabis factory’ starts today
A FAMILY from Whitland have appeared at crown court today to face charges relating to a ‘cannabis factory’ which is said to have produced an estimated £3.5m of the drug.
Four members of the McCann family, who relocated to Cwmbach, near Whitland, Carmarthenshire, from Portsmouth in 2015, all deny the charges.
Edward Robert McCann, 61, company director of Orbis Mobile Technologies Ltd based in Hampshire is charged with four counts of conspiracy to supply a class B drug on various dates between 2013, two years before the family moved to the farm, and from 2015 to 2020, when at the farm.
McCann, is also said to have had a large amount of cash he could not account for, namely £185,000 in his bank account when the Inland Revenue say his income was only £7189.
Linda McCann,59, of Cwmbach, Whitland, Carmarthenshire, Samantha McCann,25, of Bristol; Justin James David Liles, aged 31, of St Clears, Carmarthenshire; and Jack Whittock, aged 28, of Llanteg, Pembrokeshire all deny conspiracy to produce and supply cannabis between 2015 and 2020 and to possessing criminal property.
Daniel Edward McCann,36, of Waterlooville, Hampshire, also denies the charge.
Daniel McCann, along with his father Edward, have also denied a further charge of conspiracy involving the production and supply of cannabis, which relates to offences in Hampshire between 2013 and 2015.
The drug bust is said to be one of the largest ever raids by Dyfed-Powys Police.
Whilst executing the warrant, officers recovered almost £2 million worth of cannabis and cannabis-products, including oils and edibles.
The barn on the farm is said to have been ventilated with fans, lighting and paraphernalia relating to the harvesting of cannabis was found.
It is believed that tinned cans were used to conceal and transport the products, and machinery relating to the sealing of tins was also found at the property.
On the first day of the trial, the jury at Swansea Crown Court heard how clothes horses were used to dry the cannabis.
A large amount of cash was also seized during the raid, which was bundled in £1,000 cash.
It is expected that the trial will last around four weeks.
News
Manorbier school fire legal discussions ongoing
LEGAL discussions are ongoing about Pembrokeshire County Council potentially recouping a £200,000 insurance excess paid by it following the 2022 fire at Manorbier school.
Manorbier Church in Wales VC School and its adjoining schoolhouse was severely damaged by a fire on October 11 of 2022, which broke out in the school roof space.
Pupils and staff were successfully evacuated with no injuries, and a ‘school from school’ was set up in Jameston Village Hall, after a brief period of sanctuary at the nearby Buttyland caravan site.
Pembrokeshire County Council’s insurers have previously said the fire was accidentally started while ‘hot works’ were being carried out by contractors to renew an adjacent flat roof, but, as has previously been stressed, no liability has been accepted to date.
Councillors have previously heard the majority of costs were likely to be met from the council’s insurers, with the caveat of the unknown issue of liability and its effect on a £200,000 insurance excess.
A submitted question, by Councillor Aled Thomas, heard at the full council meeting of Pembrokeshire County Council on May 9, asked Cabinet Member for Education and Welsh Language Cllr Guy Woodham “to update the chamber on what progress the Cabinet have made in recouping the £200,000 insurance excess paid following the devastating non-fault fire at Manorbier school”.
Councillors have previously been told by Cllr Woodham: “The legal issues are not straightforward but will be robustly taken forward.
“At this stage it’s still subject to legal discussion. The excess will be covered by a fund the council holds for insurance excess.”
He said that, if liability was found or accepted, the council would “pursue for the full maximum claim of the costs associated with the fire”.
Responding to Cllr Thomas’s question at full council, Cllr Woodham said there was a limited amount of information he could make public due to ongoing active proceedings.
News
Stop funding Bute, Carmarthenshire residents tell County Council
CARMARTHENSHIRE Residents Action Group (CRAiG Sir Gâr) has challenged Carmarthenshire County Council leader Cllr Darren Price to stop funding Bute Energy through the council’s pension fund investment at today’s Cabinet meeting at County Hall.
Green Gen / Bute Energy is proposing to run at least two pylon chains through Carmarthenshire’s countryside’s decimating the historic landscape of the Tywi Valley and villages and along the A485. Councillors including Plaid Cymru Council Leader Darren Price have voiced their opposition. Yet Carmarthenshire is one of seven Welsh local authorities to invest its pension fund in Bute Energy. In contrast, neighbouring Powys County Council has declined to invest in the controversial firm.
Havard Hughes, local resident and spokesperson for the Carmarthenshire Residents’ Action Group commented: “We’ve challenged the County Council on their funding of Bute Energy because both Cllr Darren Price and Cllr Ann Davies have been vocal in their words about the firm’s pylon schemes. However it is utterly ludicrous that the Council they run as the Cabinet has not just been slow to act but is actively funding Bute Energy.
“Carmarthenshire County Council holds the key to killing off Bute Energy’s schemes as they are the consenting authority for the sub-stations which will connect them to the national grid. This is why residents are so concerned about a conflict of interest. Moreover, we believe that the withdrawal of Carmarthenshire’s investment would have a domino effect on Bute Energy’s funding.
“Cllr Price and Cllr Davies have the opportunity to demonstrate leadership on this issue by pulling Carmarthenshire’s funds out of Bute Energy. Instead we have the town hall farce whereby they claim, on the one hand there is nothing they can do; but state that their representative on the pension board, which Carmarthenshire itself runs, will have some “stern words”. If Carmarthenshire is serious about making Bute Energy listen to residents then they should immediately follow Powys’s lead and disinvest.
“The elephant in the room is that Powys County Council, which is also affected by Bute Energy, have managed exclude their pension fund investment. Darren Price and Ann Davies cannot claim ignorance as Carmarthenshire has one of the largest Wind-industrial zones designated in the whole of Wales in the Welsh Government’s Future Wales 2040 plan. If it was obvious to Powys this would be a problem then why not to Carmarthenshire’s representatives on the fund?
“This investment generates a direct conflict of interest between the interests of the Council in maximising its return and that of residents in minimising harm. Bute Energy is already arguing that burying cables will be more expensive. Lower profits might mean happier residents; but it will also mean lower investment returns to Dyfed Pension funds members many of whom are elected to or are employed by Carmarthenshire County Council.
It is time for Cllr Price and Cllr Ann Davies to end the excuses and take action that Bute Energy will understand. So far the most decisive action we’ve seen from Plaid Cymru on Bute has been to give Bute Energy’s Public Affairs Adviser a well-paid job for life in the House of Lords. Residents deserve deeds not empty words form our Plaid Cymru politicians in County Hall.”
News
St Davids RNLI rescue crew after yacht runs out of fuel
VOLUNTEERS from St Davids RNLI were tasked to assist a 4m yacht that had run out of fuel six nautical miles southwest of St Justinians on Sunday (May 12).
The lifeboat launched in calm conditions at 11.08am. The yacht, with one person on board and sailing from New Haven to Swansea, did not have enough wind to sail to safety.
Without fuel or wind to sail, the yacht was unable to return to shore unaided, so the RNLI Coxswain took the decision to tow the stricken vessel back to the mooring at the lifeboat station.
This rescue was the first for Reuben Palin in his role as volunteer mechanic.
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