Middle class couple who arrange ‘subtle’ hashish farm to fund their daughter’s college charges whereas they handled themselves to a Mercedes and a Porsche should pay again £1million

A middle-class couple funded their daughter’s university fees and bought a fleet of luxury cars after making millions through a ‘sophisticated’ cannabis farm.

The McCanns have been ordered to pay back £1million after earning up to £4.5million over five years from the drug operation set up in a large barn at their home in a Welsh village.

Former military officer Edward McCann, 66, his wife Linda, 63, and their son Daniel, 41, spent months scouring Rightmove for a suitable base for their intended ‘commercial-scale’ production and distribution centre.

The family set up the cannabis-growing business in a barn in 2014, and through the operation, the McCanns were able pay for their daughter Samantha’s tuition fees as well as buy an AMG Mercedes car, which Linda drove, and a Porsche belonging to Daniel.

In a text exchange, Daniel told his sister he had paid her tuition fees. When she thanked him, he replied: ‘Don’t be silly, barn paid lol.’

Another message saw Daniel boasting that three people had been ‘f*****’ by just one of the family’s cannabis joints.

The father and son were already running a successful cannabis operation in Hampshire when they decided to relocate across the border and expand their business. 

The McCanns moved more than 200 miles from Hampshire to Wales after spotting an isolated farm for sale for £385,000 near the village of Cwmbach, Carmarthenshire.

Prosecutor Ian Wright told the court that the business was run by father and son, but that Linda also took part by trimming the crops.

She was even given the nickname ‘Edward Scissorhands’ by her son, texts seen in court.

Edward raised a series of issues with the prosecution case and asked when the police were going to return his wife’s stockings and suspenders. 

However, the McCanns were handed lengthy prison sentences in 2022 and their profits were calculated at Swansea Crown Court after multiple hearings. 

The family went undetected for six years as locals believed they were English people enjoying their retirement in the Welsh countryside. 

But, after police traced cannabis production to the farm in October 2020, they forced entry to the barn and found an ‘extremely well-organised and sophisticated cannabis manufacturing operation’.

Police seized £460,000 worth of plants, along with 80kg of ‘cannabis product’ worth up to £1.5million, and £10,000 in cash. 

More than 200 plants of various stages of maturity were found, including a large ‘mother’ plant from which cuttings were taken. 

A machine for sealing tin cans was also seized. Tinned cannabis was an ’emerging trend’ in the UK as it kept the drug fresher and increased its longevity, the court heard,

Meanwhile, a search of the family house next to the barn uncovered £10,000 in cash divided into individual £1,000 bundles in the front bedroom, and a cannabis-infused chocolate bar on the kitchen table. 

The court heard the power supply to the barn had been bypassed, and an armoured trenched cable ran from the building directly to a nearby electricity pole. 

The ground floor had been divided into six growing rooms equipped with lights and extractor fans. 

There was also a main working area with a commercial-size oven and a pressure device for extracting oil from plants. 

The upstairs was used as a production area, with a table and chairs, tools and clothes horses to dry harvested cannabis plants.

Wright said the family was running an ‘industrial-scale’ drugs operation while also producing cannabis oil and cannabis-infused chocolate. 

The court heard that Edward initially became familiar with cannabis after using it to ‘alleviate’ some of the side-effects of his chemotherapy. 

The family also hired two local men, Jack Whittock and Justin Liles, to work at the cannabis farm.

Judge Geraint Walters, sentencing the family, said: ‘The reality is that those engaged in this type of activity do not appreciate that cannabis factories are a blight on our communities.’

Edward McCann, aged 66 and Daniel McCann, aged 41, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce and supply cannabis between 2015 and 2020, and to acquiring criminal property – namely cash. 

The pair also pleaded guilty to a separate conspiracy to produce and supply cannabis between 2013 and 2015 when the family lived in Hampshire.

Edward McCann was jailed for seven years and seven months and Daniel McCann for eight years and six months.

Linda McCann, aged 63, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to produce and supply cannabis between 2015 and 2020, and to acquiring criminal property. She was jailed for six years and nine months.

Whittock, aged 32, of Llanteg, Narberth, Pembrokeshire was sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison, and Liles, aged 35, of St Clears, Carmarthenshire to 22 months.

Prosecution barrister Mr Wright said the amount of cash made for both Edward and Daniel McCann was £1,798,520.

But the available assets in the case of Edward McCann senior were £342,160 and in the case of Edward McCann junior were £413,583.

He said the benefit figure for Linda McCann was £1,450,505 and her available assets had been agreed at £333,586.

Judge Walters made confiscation orders for £1,089,329 and gave each an initial three months to pay with prison sentences of four years in default for father and son, and three years for Linda McCann.