A married couple in their 70s have been sentenced after police found a cannabis farm worth more than £46,000 inside their Norfolk home. Mark Ayres, 71, was jailed for three and a half years at Norwich Crown Court on Thursday, while his wife Marion, 70, received a nine-month prison sentence suspended for a year.

The court heard that officers searched the couple's home at Burgh Common, near Attleborough, on 20 May 2025 as part of an investigation into cannabis supply in the area. Inside the four-bedroom property they found 25 cannabis plants and about 5.7kg of dried cannabis. Police put the street value of the haul at more than £46,000.

Both defendants pleaded guilty to producing cannabis, and Mark Ayres also admitted possessing the drug with intent to supply. Sentencing them, Recorder John Hardy said the couple had previously lived blameless lives and should have been enjoying their retirement.

After the hearing, Sergeant Dan Shelley of Norfolk Constabulary said drug production and supply could have a hugely damaging impact on communities and that officers would continue to take action against those responsible. Cannabis is a Class B drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, and producing it, or possessing it with intent to supply, can lead to a prison sentence.

Norfolk Constabulary announced the sentences after the hearing at Norwich Crown Court on 5 November 2026.