The father of acid attacker Arthur Collins will have to serve a home curfew and be electronically tagged after a court heard he had allowed his £1million gated home to be used as a cannabis factory.
Police had gone to the home of Arthur Collins Snr and wife Jackie when they stepped up the hunt for their son Arthur, the former boyfriend of TOWIE star Ferne McCann.
He had gone on the run after the nightclub attack which left sixteen people suffering from chemical burns.
They didn’t find the fugitive, but instead found 30 cannabis plants growing in an outbuilding at the house in Hertfordshire, which could have produced a crop worth up to £25,000.
Police also found hundreds of pounds pounds in cash on the father who told officers he had had a £1,120 win from a bet on a horse in the Grand National last year called “One For Arthur.”
During the search officers went into the bedroom of the couple’s youngest son Thomas, 22, where they found two CS gas canisters and an electric stun gun plus a quantity of cannabis weighing 68.1 grams.
The barrister representing the son said neither of the CS gas canisters worked and the stun gun had only been used by Thomas and his brother to playfully “zap” one another with a small electrical charge.
Today at St Albans Crown Court, the 55-year-old father and his son, who the court heard is soon to become a father, stood side by side in the dock having admitted the weapons and drug charges before Judge Michael Kay QC .
The judge told the father he was “hugely sceptical” of his claims that he hadn’t known a cannabis factory was operating from one of the outbuildings at his property.
The father had put forward a basis of plea that he had "turned a blind eye" to the cannabis that was being grown by his son-in-law and son in a building to which he did not have access and which was padlocked.
Judge Kay was told the father thought the son-in-law, who wasn’t named in court, was growing a few plants for his own use.
The court heard today a fully operating hydroponics growing system was in place with lighting, fans and irrigation.
The judge said “There must have been a distinct smell.”
Arthur Collins Junior, 26, is the former boyfriend of TOWIE star Ferne McCann and is the father of her daughter, Sunday.
In April 2017, he was out celebrating the news of the reality TV star’s pregnancy when he threw the acid during a fight with a group of men in the Mangle E8 club in Dalton, East London.
Sixteen people suffered chemical burns and three were temporarily blinded.
He went on the run following the attack before being arrested days later at Higham Ferrers in Northants.
He was subsequently jailed for 20 years last December at Wood Green crown court and told by a judge that what he’d done that night was a “despicable act.”
At today’s hearing Arthur Collins was not mentioned by name or that the police had gone to the house searching for him.
Prosecutor Tim Nutley officers said on April 15 police had gone to the home of Arthur Collins Snr and wife Jackie, 53 in White Stubbs Lane, Broxbourne on an “unrelated matter.”
He said in a search of the property a number of outbuilding were looked in and in one the cannabis factory was discovered.
Mr Nutley said the electricity system to power the lighting and fans had been “by-passed.”
Judge Kay was told there were 23 mature plants and seven younger plants and an expert had concluded the crop could have produced up to 2500 grams of cannabis with a street value worth anything between £9000 and £25000.
Mr Graeme Wilson who represented the father said a forensic examination of the scene had revealed DNA or a fingerprint belonging to his son in law.
The court was told no one else had been arrested or charged in relation to the uncovering of the drug factory that day.
The father pleaded guilty to being involved in the production of cannabis at his home on 17 April last year by knowingly permitting or allowing the production of the Class B drug to take place.
Thomas Collins pleaded guilty to possessing a CS gas canister and an electric stun gun. He also admitted possessing cannabis.
Following the discovery of the plants in the outbuilding, both Arthur Collins and his wife had been jointly charged and pleaded not guilty.
But in October of this year the husband changed his plea to guilty and the prosecution offered no evidence against his wife.
Judge Michael Kay QC entered a not guilty verdict against her.
In a basis of plea read to the court at that earlier hearing Arthur Collins snr’s barrister Graeme Wilson said his client had "turned a blind eye" to the cannabis that was being grown by his son-in-law and son in a buidling to which he did not have access.
Mr Wilson said that a large amount of cash found on the father by police officers had come from a bet on a horse in the Grand National last year called “One For Arthur.”
Mr Wilson said Arthur Collins was a hard working man running his own scaffolding firm.
Daryl Cherriton for Thomas said he had bought the CS gas’s canisters and stun gun while on a holiday abroad when he had been younger and immature.
“He said he has been a sometimes user of cannabis to varying degrees but he has curtailed this.”
Mr Cherriiton said the discovery that his girlfriend was now expecting their child had had a “sobering effect” on Thomas Collins.
The court heard he worked for his father earring £500 to £600 a week.
Arthur Collins was given 12 month community order and told he would be subject to a four month home curfew between the hours of 8pm to 5am and he will be electronically,ly tagged.
Thomas Collins was was given a six month prison sentence which was suspended for 18 months. He too will have to serve a four month home curfew with the same restrictions and he willl also have to carry out 150 hours of unpaid work.
Following the jailing of of Arthur Collins for 20 years he was given a further eight months in January of this year for using a smuggled mobile phone to call Ferne McCann from his prison cell.
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