Jail for duo caught red-handed at £850,000 East Ayrshire cannabis factory

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Two men involved in a sophisticated £850,000 cannabis factory have been jailed for a total of almost 11 years. Troy Stirling, 30, and Ryan Paterson, 32, were vital to the set-up at a disused farmhouse in Moscow, East Ayrshire.Police swooped after detecting a strong stench of the drug coming from the area.Stirling and Paterson were today sentenced at the High Court in Glasgow.The pair, both of the city’s Ruchazie district, had earlier pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of and producing cannabis between July 1, 2018 and December 13, 2019.Lord Scott jailed each of them for five years and four months.The Ayrshire Live app is available to download now.Get all the local news in your area – plus features, football news and the latest on the coronavirus crisis – at your fingertips 24/7.The free download features the latest breaking news and exclusive stories while you can customise your page with the sections that matter to you.The Ayrshire Live app is available to download now on iOS and Android.The judge was told by the pair’s lawyers that they were acting as “gardeners” at the cannabis farm having got into debt.Lord Scott said: “It is an unfortunate conclusion that it is your choices that have left each of you facing a custodial sentence.”He added given the “scale of the operation” it must have been apparent to both the seriousness of the crime.Prosecutor Marco Guarino earlier told how the factory had been set up in three different areas; the house itself, at Muirside Farm, a shed and also a cellar.There were a number of gates which led up to the property with police arriving on December 13, 2019, after being alerted to what was going on.Mr Guarino: “Officers...detected a smell of cannabis and the whirring of