COUNTY - The Crown has opted not to proceed with charges stemming from a marijuana grow discovered after an East Chester cottage burned 19 months ago.

 Michael Kenneth Lord, 41, and Terry Lynn Young, 33, were scheduled to go to trial September 19 in Bridgewater provincial court on charges of producing marijuana, possessing marijuana for the purpose of trafficking and stealing electricity.

 Instead, the Crown offered no evidence on the allegations and the case was dismissed.

 Mounties laid the charges following an investigation into a February 17, 2010, blaze on the Hume Point Road.

 Despite the extensive damage, investigators said they found evidence of what they called a complex marijuana operation in the basement of the single-storey structure.

 The property was owned by a Halifax woman, who indicated it was being rented at the time.

posted on 09/27/11