15 cannabis farm burglars jailed for conspiracy ended by Dudley crossbow murders
Fifteen men have been sentenced for their roles in a cannabis farm burglary conspiracy that ended in bloodshed when two people were killed with a crossbow.
In co-ordinated attacks the organised gang used a £5,000 thermal imaging camera to target addresses in Dudley, Walsall, Oldbury, Warley and Birmingham where they believed lucrative crops were located.
Wolverhampton Crown Court heard some of the burgled properties were in fact family homes and were not being used for any criminal activity. As a result the owners were left traumatised and some were injured by the raiders who were at times armed.
The case relates to a conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary and burglary between December 15 and 18, 2019, and February 2020. The crimes ended in February 2020 when Khuzaimiah Douglas, of Birmingham, who was part of the group was shot with a crossbow along with 36-year-old Waseem Ramzan who was trying to protect a cannabis factory in Pensnett Road, in Dudley.
Sentencing all 15 during a three-day hearing, Judge Jonathan Gosling said "there was a significant amount of planning and organisation", but he said he did not find the defendants dangerous and none had re-offended since 2020.
"Each has learned a salutary lesson from watching the tragic death of their friend Khuzaimah Douglas," he said.
For conspiracy to commit aggravated burglary, among the leading players were:
Troy Parkins, aged 28, of Claughton Road, Dudley, jailed for 13 years and seven months
