Cannabis Farmer Convicted Of Murder After Killing 26-Year-Old Who Raided His Drug Farm

A jury at Leeds Crown Court has convicted a cannabis farmer of murder after he shot and killed a 26-year-old intruder attempting to raid his grow operation.

Adrian Frost, 61, shot Connor Batty in the chest after Batty and two buddies forced their way into his Hemsworth home in a planned robbery targeting cannabis and cash.

The trio were initially disturbed by Frost’s Rottweilers and scarpered, but then returned with an imitation firearm and forced entry through the back door.

Given he was running an illegal cannabis farm, Frost decided against calling police, instead grabbing his double-barreled sawn-off shotgun (also illegal) and waiting at the top of the stairs.

As Batty entered the hallway, Frost blasted him in the chest.

Batty collapsed and died at the scene as his accomplices fled over a garden wall.

Investigators later discovered that Frost sent his brother a photo of the victim’s body saying he had “done it”.

CCTV footage also captured Frost laughing shortly after the shooting and joking: “Do you want an aspirin, mate?”.

A subsequent search of the property uncovered a sophistical cannabis factory and a large stash of illegal weapons including a samurai sword, machetes, knuckle dusters, an illegal air rifle, and incapacitant spray.

Police also recovered £147,000 worth of silver bullion hidden at the location.

Frost admitted to the drug cultivation and firearms offences but denied the murder charge. However, the jury rejected his defense, finding his use of lethal force to be “grossly disproportionate” and ruling that it constituted murder.

Funnily enough, in America Frost would have been well within his rights to shoot Batty, and would probably be hailed as some kind of hero and receive an award for it. Although he would still end up in prison for the drug farm, to be fair.

The victim’s surviving accomplices have already been jailed for their roles in the attempted raid.

Just goes to show, you should never take an imitation firearm to a place where someone might have a real one. Or maybe just don’t go on drug farm-raiding excursions in the first place, particularly those run by old school gangsters. That’s probably the better lesson to glean from all this.

For the Hull drug dealer who was jailed recently after his girlfriend took a photo of him buried in cash in their bed, click HERE.