Warrants issued for cannabis farm pair after they fail to make court

TWO cannabis factory workers yesterday failed to turn up in court to hear they had lost an appeal and would be jailed.

Judges at the Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh issued warrants for the arrest of Guo Xin Wang, 46, of Longstone Place, Glasgow, and Yu Ping Yu, 41, of Ronald Street, London.

Earlier this year, the two men were found guilty at Dunfermline Sheriff Court of being concerned in the supplying of cannabis on 2 December, 2009, at a cottage on Sands Farm, Kincardine, Fife. They had been caught during a raid when police found around 850 cannabis plants with a potential street value of £240,000. The court heard mothballs had been stuffed into air vents to disguise the smell of the plants from sniffer dogs.

Each man was jailed for three years, and served about six months before being freed pending an appeal against their conviction. Yesterday the court was told Guo Xin Wang’s lawyers had been unable to contact him. Yu Ping Yu had been contacted, and claimed to have missed his train. Lord Bonomy, sitting with Lords Emslie and Marnoch, issued warrants after advocate depute Iain McSporran raised the issue of the pair’s absence.