THREE men who helped to run a cannabis farm in Norton worth more than £40,000 have been jailed.

Steve Hunt, 56, John Madigan, 36, and David Norman, 50, were all part of a group who ran a “professional set up” from an empty house in Beverley Road, between January and July 2012, York Crown Court was told yesterday (Tuesday).

The three men were arrested and interviewed in December 2012, following a warrant issued in June 2012, to search the house for drugs.

A total of 97 cannabis plants, with a street value of about £44,000, were found, said Chris Dunn, prosecuting.

Mr Dunn said Claire Biggs, whose name the property was in, had been part of the scheme and in 2013 was given to a two-year prison sentence, suspended for two years with the requirement that she complete 300 hours of unpaid work.

At the time of her arrest she refused to give the names of anyone who had helped to organise the growing of the Class B drug, but her phone was later analysed to recover the names of the three defendants.

Mr Dunn said: “It is clear from the text messages which were uncovered that there was the expectation of substantial financial gain.”

Since their arrest all three men entered guilty pleas at different opportunities.

Madigan’s barrister Sara Haque argued that the father of two had not played a leading role in the growth of the drug.

She said: “There is no evidence of this being used as a legitimate business. He has made significant efforts to change his life and has done so successfully.”

Madigan has a previous conviction for the production of cannabis; a factor which Recorder James Baird said was taken in to consideration when sentencing.

He said: “They were using his knowledge and his previous experience so he obviously played a very important role.”

Madigan was sentenced to 22 months in prison.

Hunt, who admitted making between eight and 10 trips to the cannabis farm on separate occasions to bring equipment, originally claimed that it had been to deliver furniture.

The court was told that he had no previous convictions and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Norman, who is Biggs’s second cousin, was given a caution when he was arrested after officers found nine cannabis plants growing in his loft at a property in Wythenshawe, Manchester.

Norman told Greater Manchester Police they were for his own personal use. He was sentenced to 20 months.

Recorder James Baird said: “It is clear from the evidence that each of you had hoped to gain financially. Each of you played, in my view, an equal and important role in this enterprise.

“This was a professional set up, the electricity had been bypassed and you engaged in large scale production which would have been supplied in the open market.”