A PAIR of men barricaded themselves in the bathroom of a house as police raided a ‘cannabis factory’ which would have generated thousands of pounds, a court heard.

Jordan Gray and Benjamin Hepburn were found by officers wearing masks and gloves in a three-storey home in Marsh Baldon, near Nuneham Courtenay, along with 22 cannabis plants.

The pair aged 27 and 28 respectively, were jailed for two years each at Oxford Crown Court on Monday as the court heard they had been producing the quantities of the Class B substance to pay off ‘drug debts’.

Sentencing the defendants, who admitted to three charges of producing cannabis, Recorder John Ryder QC said both of them ‘knew full well’ what they were doing, in what he called a ‘significant’ operation.

The court heard how the street value of the drugs would have been worth about £25,000 in total.

Prosecuting barrister Cathy Olliver said police raided the house on June 1 last year and found tents, extractor fans, transformers, lighting and drying areas as part of a ‘comercial growing operation’ throughout the house.

She added: “They were arrested. Mr Hepburn said ‘how long had you been watching us for’.

Ms Olliver said Gray, of Verbena Way, Greater Leys, Oxford, had a previous conviction of possession with intent to supply cannabis from 2014 for which he was given a suspended sentence.

She added Hepburn, of Bayswater Road, Barton, Oxford, had a previous conviction for violence in 2010 and two offences of possessing cocaine and cannabis in 2014 and 2015.

Mr Ryder said some 636g of cannabis was seized with a street value of about £9,000.

He added the 22 plants had a street value of about £16,000 and said: “It’s quite plain, this was a significant commercial growing operation. Each of you are established long term users of this drug.”

Mr Ryder said it was ‘depressing’ to see two young men ‘with various qualities’ which could benefit their themselves, their families, and the community, before the courts.

Defending Gray, Makhan Singh, said: “He takes full responsibility. There is no excuse."

He said Gray became involved to pay off a drug debt for which he had received threats about.

Defending Hepburn, Henry James said he was ‘addicted to cannabis’, and that he was instrumental in the care of his grandparents and had raised his brother after his grandmother had a stroke when he was 16.