THURSDAY, 15th SEPTEMBER, 2011.

Bonny babies

Waggs Rd 'rat run' Readers'ViewsPages22-24 Page 9

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What’s on... What’s gone...

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Alfresco inquir

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Jail term for drug grower

Grrreat charity fund-raiser

A former cocaine addict has been sent to prison for transforming his then-partner’s Congleton home into a cannabis factory to pay off a drug debt.

But the “hard working” woman, a nurse at Macclesfield Hospital, avoided the same fate after a judge decided she had been “led astray”.

Darren Hyde, (33), was sentenced to 16 months in custody on Friday at Chester Crown Court.

He had pleaded guilty to producing cannabis in the Burns Road property and stealing electricity. He had grown enough cannabis for 817 individual drug deals in the Congleton area, and that amount could have been matched each growing season.

His former partner, Daniella Sordillo, (31), who also works in a Macclesfield care home, was ordered to carry out 100 hours’ unpaid work after admitting letting her home be used for cannabis production.

Both have lived at 106 South Park Road in Macclesfield since a police raid discovered the drugs last October.

Hyde allowed a criminal gang to set up the cannabis factory in the house of Sordillo, his on-off girlfriend of 15 years. Although she claimed she was against this deal, a judge said she did little to stop it.

Following information from the local community, police raided the Congleton home on 27th October last year, finding 50 cannabis plants worth £16,300 in a bedroom. Investigators saw that electricity had been diverted from the mains to power the farm. The cost of the electricity they illegally diverted was £660, and it cost £2,040 to repair the meter.

The court heard how Hyde, a

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Sordillo was against having a cannabis farm in her home but the equipment, including lights, ventilation systems and irrigation pipes, was set up while she was out of the house.

She told police that after it was installed, she and her two children spent as little time as they could in the house.

Simon Parry, defending Hyde, said: “His role in this is that of a gardener. He had stayed out of trouble for eight years before this. He is a man who has come to the point of deciding to make an effort to change his ways. He thought he had no choice in this predicament. This incident did prove a wake up call — he is no longer involved in cocaine.” • —Turn to back page.

Four-year-old Lauren Thacker had a grrreat time at a charity fun day on Saturday at Tesco in Congleton. Organisers said they raised around £500 for Alzheimer’s

Society, Tesco’s charity of the year.

‘It’s good news’ that Congleton stays on General Election map

Children enjoyed a bouncy castle, a bucking bronco and face painting as well as cake and craft stalls on the car park of the Barn Road store.

● Our photographer too more photos at this event. To see them all and to order reprints, visit: chronicle series.com/photos.asp

(“Chronicle” photo. 3725a/11).

Congleton MP Fiona Bruce has spoken of her relief that her constituency is not for the chop.

Congleton was one of the few constituencies in the North West to be unaffected the proposed boundary changes in which 50 MPs’ seats would go.

Although the plans will be subject to a two-year consultation, the future of Congleton seems secure.

The constituency, which includes Sandbach, Alsager, Holmes Chapel and Middlewich, has an electorate of 73,820, and the Government says constituencies must have between 72,810 and 80,473 voters.

The Cheshire constituency of Weaver Vale would be absorbed by neighbouring wards, while the Tatton constituency would be renamed Northwich, losing Wilmslow and gaining parts of Weaver Vale.

The Macclesfield constituency, represented by Tory MP David

Rutley and which includes Gawsworth and Eaton, would retain most existing boundaries. Some northern areas would be lost to the new Hazel Grove and Stockport constituency but parts currently in Tatton would be added.

Mrs Bruce said that the location of Congleton, on a border recognised by Europe as separating the North West and Midlands, would have made it difficult for the Government to alter boundaries.

Mrs Bruce, who was elected as the Tory MP in 2010 following the retirement of Ann Winterton, told the “Chronicle”: “This is good news for us here in the Congleton constituency.

“I am pleased since it is 100% unchanged boundaries. It means I can continue to work with the people in our local communities who have made me so welcome since my election last year, and help strengthen and support them.”

Congleton is one of 77 constituencies nationwide, and two in Cheshire, to remain unaffected.

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