A CANNABIS producer from Kidderminster has been ordered to pay back more than £80k following a police bust.

This week at Worcester Crown Court, Judge Martin Jackson granted a Confiscation Order against Christopher Ogden, from Kinlet Road, Far Forest, Kidderminster.

Judge Jackson determined the 52 years old had benefitted from his criminal lifestyle to the value of £321,557.73 and his available assets totalled £80,408.

Ogden was ordered to pay the £80,408 within 3 months or serve a prison sentence of 12 months in default of payment.

The Judge also ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs and paraphernalia seized from Ogden.

Ogden had previously pleaded guilty in respect of producing a controlled drug of class B under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, when he appeared at Worcester Crown Court on 4 December 2020.

In January 2021 at Hereford Crown Court, Ogden was sentenced to 2 years imprisonment, suspended for 18 months, with a 160 days unpaid work requirement.

Ogden’s conviction followed a police search warrant being executed at his home address in Far Forest on 4th October 2017.

An extensive cannabis production operation was found located on the upper floor of the building inside three bedrooms. Approximately 150 cannabis plants were found at the address, along with harvested material, which forensic experts estimated could have produced a yield of approximately 6.6 kilograms of `skunk` type cannabis.

The total potential value of the cannabis seized was agreed to be £26k. Fingerprints found on black bin liners containing harvested cannabis and sun lamps were identified to Ogden.

The benefit figure of over £321k, determined by Judge Jackson was based not only on the value of the cannabis seized, but also on the fact that financial enquiries confirmed that Ogden had no record of any income from employment, or benefits for the past six years and held no bank accounts.

The prosecution successfully argued that Ogden had been supporting himself through the proceeds of crime for this period.

Financial enquiries confirmed that Ogden lived in a high value property, which was in negative equity due to multiple charges secured against the property, but that he owned a further rental property in Bewdley, within which it was agreed that there was equity totalling £80,408.00.

Detective Inspector Emma Wright, of the Economic Crime Unit, West Mercia Police said, “This case demonstrates how the work of financial investigators can show the total benefit that criminals are believed to have received from crime across a number of years, where they are deemed to have a ‘criminal lifestyle’ and have no legitimate income to explain how they fund their lifestyle or expenditure. In this case, whilst the drugs found had a value of around £26k the Judge agreed that Ogden had received over £321k from crime over the preceding 6 years.

“Ogden will have to pay back over £80k of this immediately from the assets he has left. Should further assets be identified in the future he will also have to surrender these, until the total sum of over £321K is paid. This demonstrates what a strong tool the Proceeds of Crime Act can be in removing the trappings of crime from those involved in drugs supply.

"Financial investigators work tirelessly on cases such as this, often long after the criminal conviction and sentence, to ensure that crime doesn’t pay. The money recovered is then put back into funding law enforcement activity, with a proportion returned directly to West Mercia Police to help us to continue to tackle serious crime.”