Arrest in Rowley Regis as hundreds of cannabis plants seized
Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Man who sold family home to HS2 for £1.2m discovers it was being used as cannabis farm
A widower who sold his home to HS2 shortly after his wife died from pancreatic cancer has discovered it was turned into a cannabis farm. Alan Wilkinson, 85, bought Ravenswood in the late 1970s and settled there with his wife Gillian. The couple enjoyed the four-bedroomed property, adding a swimming pool and new kitchen to it, for roughly four decades before deciding to sell in the wake of HS2 plans. By 2019 bosses at HS2 planned to build a tunnel underneath Whitmore Heath in Staffordshire, the hillside village where the property lay. Mr and Mrs Wilkinson were considering moving to a smaller home at the time, and when they learnt of the proposed developments entered negotiations to sell up. But in a double tragedy Mrs Wilkinson died two weeks before the sale was finalised and the planned stretch of HS2 line connecting Birmingham to Manchester was cancelled. After buying the property from the Wilkinsons for £1.2 million, HS2 executives decided to use an external agency to let the property out. Darren Pinnington, 32, from Liverpool rented the property but by November 2022 was using it to grow cannabis. Pinnington was caught when two Jehovah witnesses approached the property hoping to find a convert and smelt the aroma of cannabis wafting in the air. He now awaits sentence at Stoke-on-Trent Crown Court later this year after pleading guilty to being concerned in the production of cannabis. Mr Wilkinson, who is too distressed to return to his old home after learning what became of it, told the Independent: 'It's terrible. 'I feel awful, truthfully, about what's happened. I lived there for 30 years; it was a great chunk of my life, a beautiful house, and now it's sitting empty, abandoned. 'I can't bear to go back, so many memories there with my wife, all gone. I hear rumours it's going to be knocked flat and rebuilt.' Though he was not required to sell to make way for the HS2 development under a compulsory purchase scheme, Mr Wilkinson feels the project ruined the village. He added: 'HS2 destroyed our village. It was a fine community where people who had made it had gone to live. 'But the plans for the line tore it apart, more than a dozen people died while waiting to sell their homes.' HS2's plans would have seen a tunnel built roughly 100 feet or 30 metres beneath Whitmore Heath. The plans would not have forced anyone out of their homes, but Mr Wilkinson and his late wife felt the project would detract from their enjoyment of the area. Owing to the damage caused to the property by Pinnington's cannabis farm HS2 cannot relet the property because repair works would cost too much. In a statement, a spokeswoman for HS2 said: 'We recognised Mr Wilkinson's difficult situation and he accepted our offer in 2019 to buy his home through HS2's Special Circumstances Scheme, under which we covered moving costs, paid stamp duty and legal fees. 'We utterly condemn the illegal use of property - acquired by the project - being used as a cannabis farm. It was let on the open rental market, and managed by property agents, to help recoup costs to the taxpayer. 'We have been unable to relet the property since the farm was closed down by police because the costs of returning it to a lettable state are too great. The area is patrolled by our private security teams who work closely with Staffordshire Constabulary.'
BBC News
3 hours ago
- BBC News
Man charged with murder after stabbing in Hockley
A man has been charged with murder after a man aged in his 30s was stabbed at a house in Midlands Police were called to a property on South Road, Hockley, shortly after 17:15 BST on Friday where a man was confirmed dead at the scene,Ernest Vaska, 34, of South Road, Hockley, has been charged with the murder of a man in his 30s, who has not been formally Vaska will appear at Birmingham Magistrates' Court on Monday. Follow BBC Birmingham on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
BBC News
6 hours ago
- BBC News
Four men charged after serious disorder in Bilston
Four men have been charged following a serious disorder in Bilston, police have Midlands Police said officers were called to reports of armed disorder involving a number of people and bladed weapons on Friday Singh, 28, from Hounslow; Harpeet Singh, 25, from Leicester; Mukesh Kumar, 30, from Wolverhampton; and Lakwinder Singh, 26, from Smethwick, have all been charged with violent disorder, wounding and possession of an offensive weapon, the force are due to appear at Wolverhampton Magistrates' Court on Monday. Three people were taken to hospital after the disorder, however police said their injuries were not believed to be people have so far been arrested in connection with the disorder, two of whom have been bailed while inquiries continued, the force are also investigating a gun that was found in Arbour said more patrols were taking place in the area and that the disorder was being treated as an isolated incident. Follow BBC Wolverhampton & Black Country on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.
