Image caption The couple used some of the money to help people in a village near Mombasa

A couple who handed out money to people in Kenya from the proceeds of their farmhouse cannabis factory have been jailed for three years.

Michael Foster, 62, and Susan Cooper, 63, from Little Sutton, Lincolnshire, pocketed hundreds of thousands of pounds during a six-year period.

The couple used some of the money to help people in a village near Mombasa, where they were regular visitors.

Image caption The cannabis plants were discovered after a passing police officer recognised the smell

They paid for life-saving surgery, computers and schooling for children.

It was described in court as the "most unusual cannabis growing case of its type".

The court also heard that Foster and Cooper were only caught after a police officer pursuing a burglar near the couple's home recognised the smell of cannabis coming from the property.

Inside police found 159 cannabis plants with an estimated street value of about £20,000 and a note, which led officers to search another property in Terrington St Clement, Norfolk.

The couple admitted four charges of producing cannabis and a single offence of possessing criminal cash between March 2004 and June 2010.