Clive Weir: Hillsborough farmer jailed over ‘large, sophisticated cannabis factory'

Ordering a shocked looking Clive Weir to serve half that sentence in jail and half under supervised licence conditions, Judge Donna McColgan KC said while it was clear from reports that the 56-year-old “is extremely anxious about the prospect” of going to jail, given his role and £40,000 profit the custody threshold had been passed.

At an earlier hearing Weir, a father-of-six from the New Road in Hillsborough, confessed to offences of cultivating cannabis, using criminal property and converting criminal property between February 1, 2022 and February 3, 2023.

The charges outline that Weir used criminal property, “namely funds in the sum of £184,536.66 for the purchase of fuel from Victor Walker Fuels” and also that he converted criminal property by lodging £41,495 into a Bank of Ireland account and by lodging £132,571.50 into a Clear Bank bank account.

The charges arise following an intelligence-led search operation at Weir’s farm on February 3 last year and at one stage the defendant, well known in Free Presbyterian and DUP circles, contacted the media to criticise the slowness of the police operation.

Summarising the facts of the case during her sentencing remarks today, Judge McColgan outlined that while the search was on 3 February, the operation was so large and extensive that it took the police more than a week to dismantle.

The “large, sophisticated cannabis factory” was spread throughout two farm buildings just eight metres from the door to Weir’s home and the judge described how the factory had been split into different rooms for growing cannabis, drying the crop and “rest areas.”

The “sizeable operation” had grow lights, heating and ventilation, all powered by a generator supplied by Weir.

Cops seized 700 cannabis plants on various stages of maturity from seedlings to fully mature plants and the search operation also uncovered 50 kilos of cannabis and two “gardeners,” Vietnamese brothers 39-year-old Quy Nguyen and Anh Nguyen (35), also listed as from the New Road in Hillsborough.

The brothers entered guilty pleas to cultivating cannabis at an earlier hearing.

According to the police case the factory was so extensive it would have produced cannabis worth £200,000 every month although that profit would have went to the organisers rather than Weir.

While the defence contend that Weir “never set foot” in any part of the cannabis factory itself, he did buy fuel for the generator which powered the operation

Weir’s profit, said the judge, was the £41,495 which “represented payments made directly to the defendant by those controlling the cannabis growing operation on his premises.”

Judge McColgan said while the defence do not accept the proposition, the prosecution contend that Weir’s role was “at a level equivalent to that envisaged for a manager” given his physical proximity to the growing operation and that he bought the fuel for the generator.

Although the judge did not specifically say what her view was she told the court the sentencing range for a manager was between three to seven years, adding that had Weir contested the case and been convicted she would have imposed a four year jail term.

Turning to defence reports, Judge McColgan said they showed how Weir had depression and anxiety since he was declared bankrupt in 2006 and suggested that at the time of the cannabis seizure, “that he wasn’t thinking straights he had significant family issues and had somewhat lost focus.”

Earlier defence KC Michael Chambers emphasised that Weir was due substantial credit for his guilty pleas and that he came from a hard working and respectable family.

Weir, said the senior barrister, is the only one of his family or friends to have a criminal record and he also stressed that a flock of chickens he owns cannot be moved so if he is jailed, “they will have to be destroyed.”

“That is just something he is going to have to deal with,” Judge McColgan told the court before she jailed the 58-year-old.

In addition to the jail sentence, the judge also postponed confiscation proceedings until January 28.

Afterwards, a spokesperson from the PSNI’s Organised Crime Branch said: “Due to the vast quantities of drugs found, we believe this operation was capable of making millions of pounds over a number of harvests. “This was a large and sophisticated cannabis farm and was clearly a well organised operation, which bore all the hallmarks of organised criminal gang involvement. “These drugs would have made their way to other criminal groups across Northern Ireland, who in turn attempt to increase their grip on communities by onward supply and profiteering. “Information from the public is crucial in helping us tackle the scourge of drugs and those who supply them.”