During routine inspections, a landlord already convicted of assaulting an estate agent discovered Cannabis Farms operating in three of his Kent rental properties.

Fergus Wilson, the notorious landlord, now faces a £60,000 repair bill after uncovering clandestine cannabis farms in three of his Kent rental homes.

Wilson famous for mocking tenants with “curry smells,” bragging “I can do what I like” about evictions, and provoking controversy with his tenant-selection policies. He also carries a 2014 assault conviction for attacking estate agent Dan Wells and a £125,000 fine imposed in 2023 for harassing Ashford Council staff.

He discovered the illegal grow-ops during standard inspections ahead of planned property sales. The first alarm bells rang on Lodge Wood Drive in Ashford, where every window had been securely boarded up, betraying the scale of the operation within.

He told the County media: “It was clear to me it was what we call a cannabis factory – I wasn’t too impressed at all.” The remaining two sites were located in Aylesford and Boughton Monchelsea.

Criminals had used power tools to cut through walls, ceilings and floors to install ventilation systems. The three properties all required around £20,000 of repairs that could not be claimed on insurance, with Wilson furious saying: “I feel aggrieved and violated.

Despite thorough forensic examinations by Kent Police, no arrests have been made, leaving Wilson to publicly decry the sluggish pace of the inquiry and says:”My feeling, three months on, is that I might as well have not reported it to the police. Next time, I don’t think I’ll bother.”

After leaving the rental market several years ago, he’s been steadily selling off the properties of his housing portfolio.