Trainer jailed for 'drug factory'

A racehorse trainer has been jailed for 21 months for running a cannabis factory on his premises.

Robert Woods, 55, of Calke Abbey Racing Stables, Boundary, near Swadlincote, said he got into financial trouble after borrowing from a loan shark.

He owed £183,000 and thought growing cannabis would help pay off the debt.

Woods pleaded guilty at Derby Crown Court to the production, possession and supply of the drug, which was making him up to £400 a week in profit.

Police found almost 200 cannabis plants valued at just under £30,000 when they raided the stables last July.

The plants were grown in an outbuilding at the stables, which are not connected to the estate of the same name.

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Robert Woods claimed he got into financial trouble and hoped the profits would clear his debts