Cannabis duo’s sentence cut

Gary Michael Tomney, 43, of Eastern Avenue, Dinnington, was jailed for six years, along with Leon Brett Sulley, 32, of Brailsford Road, Ecclesfield, who was locked up at four years at Sheffield Crown Court in October last year.

The duo were prosecuted after a police raid on a house in Wright Street, Dinnington, in August 2010, which uncovered cannabis plants with the potential for a three-kilo yield with a potential £20,000 street value.

Officers found sophisticated hydroponic equipment designed to help nurture the fledgling plants.

Lord Justice Elias, sitting with Mr Justice Owen and Judge Clement Goldstone QC, decided that both men’s sentences were too long.

He cut their sentences after agreeing that the cannabis operation was not conducted on an ‘industrial scale.’

Tomney’s sentence had been fixed too high, said Lord Justice Elias, and Sulley was not in a ‘senior position’, he added.