Men deny 'hole-in-wall' charges

Lee Russell, Paul Bradley and Michael Alday deny the charges

Three men accused of drug offences linked to a "cannabis cafe" in West Sussex have gone on trial.

Lee Russell and Paul Bradley, both of Worthing, and Michael Alday, of Horsham, have denied conspiracy to supply cannabis.

Police "bashed" their way into the so-called "hole-in-the-wall cafe" in Freshbrook Road, Lancing, during raids in 2008, the court was told.

Electrified barbed wire had also been put on the building, jurors heard.

The prosecution said the cafe's security measures, which also included a reinforced "air lock-style" system of double doors, gave those inside the building time to incinerate drugs.

An incinerator was hidden on the second floor of the building while police waited outside, the jury at Kingston Crown Court was told.

The court heard the cafe's customers nick-named the business the "hole-in-the-wall cafe" because of the means of entry employed by police during repeated raids.

Mr Russell, of Ethelwood Road, also denies three offences under the Proceeds of Crime Act.