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There was quite a lot of sympathy among ECHO readers for a dad of two locked up after getting caught running an illegal cannabis cafe for the third time.

Gary Youds, who told a judge he had a painful and incurable illness and smoked the drug for relief, was given a nine month prison sentence after the Chillin’ Rooms, on Holt Road in Kensington, was raided and £11,000 of cannabis recovered.

Youds, 47, was found guilty ot allowing the premises to be used to smoke cannabis and possession of the drug, although he was cleared of being a dealer.

Youds, of Cavan Road, Norris Green, has had run ins with the law over cannabis going back to 2005 when he got a conditional discharge for running the cafe and was then locked up in 2006 for ignoring the punishment, continuing to run the cafe, and growing cannabis at home.

His barrister Philip Clemo said he was “a very polite man” and not someone who was “living the high life”.

He said: “He is a man who has fundamentally, the court will no doubt take the view, misguided beliefs about cannabis.”

Mr Clemo added that the jury’s verdict suggested they did not believe Youds was drug dealer “in the truest sense of the word”.

That opinion was shared by many who commented on the ECHO’s coverage of the case...

Lynchylaa posted on our website: “There is criminals and villains involved in the cannabis industry, but I know Gary Youds from when I was a kid, and his friends and family who were at court today are a million miles away from what you would class as villains. I’ve never been to this place but I have to say everything I heard about it was all good. No drunk lunatics full of cocaine like you see in EVERY pub and club. I think it was basically old hippies and sick people in a private members club, which is basically like being in someone’s house really. To send him to jail for it is a disgrace I think.”

On Facebook Van Der Voort Martijn said: “Council controlled coffee shops. Tax them, control it. Better than all those Northface scruffs going round on their pushbikes thinking they’re Curtis... even the Yanks are starting to legalize weed in certain states.”

Hannah Yates-Fawcett said: “Just bloody legalise it. It’s no worse than cigarettes and alcohol, if anything it seems to work wonders for some in various situations and with various illnesses.”

Kelly Simpson was annoyed she had missed the boat: “Why didn’t no one tell me about this place?”

While Connor Angelo Victorio was concerned for the local economy: ”Another lost opportunity for a successful business on Merseyside.”

Alfred Quinn was less relaxed, saying: “Excellent result for the police yet another dealer of death and criminal locked away. Kenny is a bad enough area as it is without mind altering substances being smoked.”

Bobby Jones had little sympathy: “This Muppet thinks he’s above the law. You’re not. Haha.”

That prompted this response from Robert Black, who said: “Well when the law’s reasoning for making cannabis illegal has been proven wrong, and cannabis has been proved to have medicinal properties of the like which cannot be reproduced in a lab mixing chemicals... Then it’s safe to say the law needs to be changed! But you’re right he’s not above the law, nobody is. You’re still an idiot though.”