Decorator gets back from shielding to find gang turning home into cannabis farm

A decorator returned home from shielding to discover a gang was preparing to set up a cannabis farm in his home.

Peter Mearns, from Birkenhead in Merseyside, is registered as disabled and decided to stay with another vulnerable friend to shield from the pandemic due to his severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease [COPD], an inflammatory lung disease.

But during this time, criminals noticed the empty house and seized the chance to turn it into a facility for growing cannabis.

As both of the friends were classed as “at risk” from the virus, they shielded together for company and in case they needed any support.

This meant Peter, who is a decorator runs a community business to help people to find work, was away from his home for well over a month, through December and the first weeks of 2021, the Liverpool Echo reports.

He returned to his home on January 18, and found the locks had been changed which immediately set alarm bells ringing, so he contacted Merseyside Police.

A locksmith was called who gained access to the property and allowed police to enter.

Once inside, officers discovered that the house had been completely stripped down and fitted out with enough equipment to grow thousands of pounds worth of cannabis.

Peter told the Liverpool Echo: “I was shocked. I looked at the locksmith and police officers and thought ‘what is going on here?’

“My head was wrecked.”

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Peter praised the support the housing association had offered him through the ordeal, but said the experience left him “feeling somewhat hostile” and “not wanting to return to my long term home”.

Further inspection revealed that the crooks had taken tools and a computer used for a community project Peter had started to help unemployed people.

Supported by The Big Lottery Fund, the scheme Color My World was set up to find jobs for painters and decorators and help others without experience to develop workplace skills.

A spokesperson for Merseyside Police told the Liverpool Echo that no offences were initially identified.

The force said: "We can confirm that officers have been investigating a suspected burglary in Oxton, Wirral.

"On Monday, January 18, police were called to a property on Kingsland Road to reports from the owner that the locks had been changed.

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"Upon later gaining access, the owner found various items of equipment.”

The force confirmed that those items had been taken from the property.

Anyone with information should contact Merseyside Police by calling 101 or messaging them on Twitter at @MerPolCC and quoting the crime reference 21000036893.

You can also anonymously contact Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111.

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