A HANDYMAN who helped set up a major cannabis-producing farm has been ordered by a court to hand over £123,000 of his ill-gotten gains.
Michael Horsnell, 47, of The Pantiles, Billericay, was snared after police found entries in a secret diary his wife kept of his business affairs.
Her aim was to use the information in possible divorce proceedings.
However, Chelmsford Crown Court was told that the entries revealed the involvement of Horsnell, formerly of Tor Bryan, Ingatestone, in a massive £1 million skunk producing operation.
Horsnell was said to have made £385,000 as a result of his work in helping set up the plant.
Some money was found by his wife Wendy under their daughter's bed and as well as noting it in the diary, she took photographs.
Horsnell was found guilty of conspiring to produce cannabis and two offences of possessing criminal property involving £55,000 and £200,000.
He was jailed for six years last July by Judge Karen Walden-Smith, who said: "Plainly this was going to be a very profitable business.
"You carried out the works needed to create the cannabis factory. Significantly, you were also involved in hiring generators, although I accept you were not a major organiser.
"Cannabis was discovered by police on November 6, 2009.
"It was a sophisticated and well-organised operation."
Entries in his wife's diary detailed two sums of cash totalling £255,000 found by his wife at their then home in Ingatestone.
The diary came to light during a police investigation into a cannabis factory at Blunts Farm, Theydon Bois.
Mrs Horsnell wrote that she had found £55,000 underneath her daughter's bed, which she thought "inappropriate", and had moved it to the garage.
She later discovered £200,000 in a wardrobe in her husband's bedroom.
Horsnell had been involved in setting up one of the largest cannabis factories Essex Police have found in recent years, containing almost 3,500 cannabis plants producing up to £835,000 worth of skunk in each crop.
