This is the ‘Narnia’ like secret room used to grow cannabis plants that, when harvested, could have produced thousands of pounds worth of the class B drug.
The entrance to the attic room was hidden behind the false back of a mirror-fronted wardrobe, with a partition making it look like the clothes cupboard was up against a wall.
Prosecutor Matthew Knight described the set-up as ‘Narnia-esque’ when he outlined the case to jurors at Oxford Crown Court this month.
Police officers found the extraordinary room as they searched Richard Osborne’s home in Manor Road, Banbury, in April 2021. The 67-year-old had been arrested at the Newbury services with 1.3kgs of cannabis in his car, potentially worth up to £9,600 according to a police expert.
As well as the cottage-industry cannabis factory in the loft, police found £10,000 in cash stashed in a cavity below a windowsill in the house.
Self-confessed cannabis user Osborne admitted growing the drug, claiming he was going to get the dried plants turned into an oil.
However, he denied the £10,000 cash was the proceeds of drug dealing, saying the money was legitimate.
Jurors rejected his explanations earlier this month, finding him guilty of possession of criminal property. Osborne will be sentenced on May 22.
The Crown Prosecution Service, which brought the case against the Banbury man, has now released pictures showing inside his loft-space cannabis factory.
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