Three men jailed for turning nuclear bunker in Wiltshire into cannabis factory

Three men have been jailed for turning an underground nuclear bunker designed for Army VIPs into the "largest cannabis factory to be found in the south of England".

Martin Fillery, 46, Plamen Nguyen, 27, and Ross Winter, 31, were sentenced at Salisbury Crown Court after admitting conspiracy to produce class B drugs and abstracting electricity.

Prosecutor, Charles Thomas, said the farm at the RGHQ (Regional General Headquarters) Chilmark, Wiltshire, was capable of producing £2million worth of cannabis each year.

Judge Keith Cutler called it the "most serious crimes that this area has seen for a long while", while sentencing the three men.

Fillery was jailed for a total of eight years while Winter and Nguyen were each given five years in prison.

Prosecutor Thomas explained that Fillery, who had previously written a screenplay about cannabis production, leased the remote building in 2013 and initially used it as a storage facility for his business of selling film and TV memorabilia including model Daleks and cars.

He said that police were tipped off by a delivery driver who reported a cannabis smell at the site and officers carried out three periods of CCTV surveillance before raiding the bunker in February 2017.

They found 4,425 plants at all stages of production as well as 6,500 dead used plants with a total value of £1.25 million. About 20kg of harvested and dried cannabis was also found with a value of about £99,000.

As well as the equipment used to grow the cannabis, which would have cost £140,000 to set up, the police found living accommodation including a fully stocked kitchen for four Vietnamese men who were employed as gardeners.

Police had initially considered whether modern slavery offences had been committed but they could not prove that the gardeners were being held against their will, Mr Thomas explained.

He added that three of them had since been deported and the fourth case was under appeal.

He said the electricity stolen from a nearby pylon used to power the growing lights and other equipment had an estimated maximum value of £650,000.

Fillery, of Ashcott, Bridgwater, Somerset, was also sentenced for possessing criminal property after police found movie memorabilia worth £1million at his home.

Officers also found receipts for diamonds worth £3,000 and £800 of Hugo Boss clothing at Winter's home.

Mr Thomas said that Fillery had a "leading role" in the operation which is believed to have begun in May 2014 while Winter, of Maytree Avenue, Bristol, provided transport and Nguyen, of Horfield, Bristol, was a liaison for the gardeners.