A NEWLY-WED couple’s drug factory was found by police while they were honey-mooning in Cuba after neighbours noticed the smell.

Ricky and Leigha Armstrong, of Oaklands Road in Pontypool, left the UK to get married in the Caribbean in July, 2017.

But they left behind a cannabis drug factory in their rented property, along with a cousin who the court heard was “dog-sitting”.

Suspicious neighbours alerted Gwent Police to the smell, and they raided the property on July 18.

They found a locked room with 34 cannabis plants, heating equipment and a notepad full of profit calculations and growing instructions.

The plants had a maximum yield value of £22,500, heard Newport Crown Court yesterday (Monday, April 1).

Prosecuting, Tony Trigg said police found notes suggesting one ounce sales were being prepared by the couple.

Police estimated the plants would yield between 30 and 90 ounces.

The couple were charged with producing a controlled class B drug.

Judge Geraint Walters questioned whether illegal activities had paid for their honeymoon in Cuba, but it was heard the couple claimed a “tax-rebate” had paid for the trip.

In mitigation, Gareth Williams admitted it was clear the Armstrongs were “in it together.”

“While there are not as many plants as you sometimes see in these cases, this was a determined effort to grow,” he said.

“They’ve come here today understanding the power of the court in relation to this offence.

“Mrs Armstrong has never been to a court before. She is of previous good character and this is very scary and stressful for her.”

Mr Williams added that Mr Armstrong had a one-year-old daughter from a previous relationship, and was a “stable influence” on her and his ex-partner.

Though he had previous convictions, none were drug related or had any bearing on this case.

“He took a very, very bad decision. Of course, Mrs Armstrong was also complicit,” said Mr Williams.

“The notepad was there, and we all understand what that means.

“It’s surprising that anyone who has done this before would write this information down to leave as a Christmas present for the authorities.”

Sentencing, Judge Walters said growing cannabis was a “scourge” on society.

“So happy were you in your little world you celebrated your marriage in Cuba leaving a drugs factory back in your house.

“You thought: ‘Why do I bother working when I can make vast sums of money growing cannabis?’

“People who think they can set up these factories will find that they too get knocks from police officers, because they are not that discrete.

“This kind of behaviour is a scourge.”

But, he added, guidelines allowed him to suspend the sentence in the “absence of serious criminality”.

Mr Armstrong, who pleaded guilty at the first opportunity, was given an eight month sentence, suspended for two years.

He will have to complete 150 hour of unpaid work and could face further financial sanctions if authorities decide he profited from his crime.

Mrs Armstrong, who pleaded not guilty initially but then changed her plea, was given a nine month sentence, suspended for two years.

She will have to complete 12 days of rehabilitation activities and 120 hours of unpaid work.