House of Lords refuse leave to appeal

Lords won't hear my cannabis bid
Oct 29 2005
By Carl Butler, Daily Post

NORTH Wales cannabis campaigner Jeffrey Ditchfield yesterday said law lords were refusing to hear his final appeal.

Mr Ditchfield of Water Street, Rhyl, wanted the House of Lords to rule on his defence of "necessity" in giving cannabis to relieve pain.

A Chester Crown Court jury last year found him not guilty of supplying cannabis, after he used the medical necessity defence.

Retired farmer and MS sufferer Glyn Williams of Caerwys appeared in his wheelchair to tell the judge Mr Ditchfield saved him from pain.

But three Court of Appeal judges in May ruled cannabis could not be legalised to alleviate pain and declared the defence of necessity should not have been allowed.

They agreed Mr Ditchfield - and others who made similar claims - could appeal to the Lords.

Mr Ditchfield, who stood as a Legalise Cannabis candidate in the general election in Vale of Clwyd, said yesterday: "The Lords announced they would not hear the appeal.

"I don't know why yet, but the appeal was on a point of law and generally it means if they refuse to consider it they are in agree-ment with the Court of Appeal." Mr Ditchfield predicted the ruling would cause an outcry from seriously ill people for whom cannabis was often the last resort.

He said: "It just can't be right to criminalise people in wheelchairs for using a plant."

Others who also saw their appeal rejected by the House of Lords were now considering an appeal to the European courts.

But Mr Ditchfield, 49, was uncertain if he would join them.

Instead he may pin his hopes on another case in November when he is considering putting forward a new defence.

"Basically I want to go back to court on a new charge and this will give me a chance to argue my case," he said..

Mr Ditchfield was acquitted at Chester Crown Court on January 16 last year after being allowed to use the defence of "necessity" by the trial judge Elgan Edwards.

Back to Magistrates Court

Daily Post
18th October 2005

A CANNABIS campaigner facing new charges last night called for the case to be dropped because it took so long to prosecute him.

Jeffrey Ditchfield, 45, and David Newton, 50, both appeared before Prestatyn magistrates yesterday jointly charged with cultivating 26 cannabis plants between January 2004 and March 2004.

Ditchfield, of Water Street, Rhyl, was also charged with supplying Lawrence Brierley of Manchester with cannabis between January 1999 and January 2004.

He faced a further charge of supplying Newton with a derivative of cannabis between May 2003 and January 2004.

Newton of Grove Park Avenue, Rhyl, was also charged with possessing cannabis between January and March 2004.

Andrew Hutchinson, for both men, said he would be arguing there was an abuse of process over the time taken to bring the charges because the police had all the evidence for 18 months

Charged, supply and cultivation

12/10/2005, after 19 months and 9 bail extensions I was finally charged at the insistence of the CPS by NWP and bailed to appear at Prestatyn Magistrates Court

I have been charged with

cultivation

Supplying a derivative of cannabis (capsules)

and supplying cannabis in general

Medical cannabis man faces trial
Oct 14 2005

By Tom Bodden, Daily Post

NORTH Wales cannabis campaigner Jeff Ditchfield last night
faced fresh charges of supplying and growing the drug.

The 45-year-old shop owner from Rhyl spent more than a year on bail. During the summer he challenged the director of public prosecutions to bring charges or drop the case against him.

Mr Ditchfield said last night he planned to plead not guilty and seek a trial at crown court. He previously claimed cannabis helped relieve the pain of chronically ill people.

The latest charges include cultivating 26 plants at Prestatyn between January 1 and March 25, 2004, plus supplying a derivative of the drug in Rhyl between May 21, 2003, and January 29, 2004. And he also faces a third charge of supplying cannabis in Manchester between January 1 1999 and June 22, 2004.

He was due to appear at Prestatyn magistrates court on Monday. Last night Mr Ditchfield said: "I have been on bail since June 2004, and some of the alleged offences against me pre-date my last trial when I was found not guilty. "I am quite glad I have been charged and I'm looking forward to going back to crown court. "I was found not guilty at Chester Crown Court in January 2004 of possession and possession with intent to supply. My defence was that cannabis was used to relieve pain and suffering because people can't get cannabis medicine from their GP.
"

Previously, Mr Ditchfield, of Water Street, who stood as a candidate for the Legalize Cannabis Alliance in the general election, was found not guilty at Chester Crown Court of possession and intent to supply the drug after a jury heard he gave it to people for medicinal reasons.

Since his acquittal by a jury last year, an appeal court judge ruled the defence of 'necessity' in supplying cannabis for medical reasons should not have been allowed, but did not over-rule the verdict.