A COUPLE who were convicted of running a Huntingdonshire cannabis farm have been ordered to pay back thousands of pounds of their criminal gains.

Paul Boost, 44, and Jacqueline Girbow, 55, were sentenced at Peterborough Crown Court in September. Boost was given three years and four months, and Girbow was sentenced to nine months, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to carry out 150 hours of community work.

Boost had rented an industrial unit at Little Staughton Airfield, which he had used to house a cannabis farm. It was discovered in February last year when police seized 196 plants with a street value of more than �60,000.

Boost was tracked down to an address in Mewburn, Bretton, Peterborough, where he was living with Girbow. When officers arrested the couple they discovered 75 cannabis plants with a street value of more than �23,000.

Last Tuesday (March 27), at a confiscation hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act, Peterborough Crown Court heard Boost had made just over �110,000 from his cannabis farm and Girbow more than �24,000.

Boost was able to pay back only �1,540 in cash but will be required to pay the remainder. Girbow paid back the whole of her sum using the equity in her property in Mewburn. The couple have also forfeited their Ford Mondeo car.

Detective Chief Inspector Jim McCrorie said: “Boost and Girbow were involved in the production of a significant amount of cannabis and making a healthy profit from it, so it is particularly satisfying to see them stripped of their criminal gains.”