A FOOTBALL manager who set up a family cannabis business has been ordered to pay back almost £86,000.

Kenny Langford, 47, ran nine cannabis farms across Lancashire and Greater Manchester, which generated £272,010 for the Darwen AFC manager.

MORE TOP STORIES:

But a court heard Langford had just £85,903.84 of assets available to pay back his criminal gains and has been given three months to hand over the money.

Langford of Cranberry Fold Court, Darwen, was jailed for four and a half years last July after pleading guilty to cannabis production.

After his arrest, Langford stepped down from his position of manager at the football club.

He claimed he started growing cannabis when his dry lining company started to feel the recession bite.

His sons Daniel, 24, and Ben, 27, were also jailed for their part in the lucrative family cannabis business set up by their father in 2014, but have not been subject to proceeds of crime (POCA) proceedings.

Officers swooped on properties in Darwen, Pendlebury and the Ribble Valley, unearthing hundreds of cannabis plants growing in sophisticated set ups.

At one house in Clitheroe Road, Whalley, owned by restaurateur Nico Ricioppo, they found drugs with a street value of £139,000. In Alpha Street, Darwen, they discovered £75,500 of cannabis and at another property in St John’s Street, Pendlebury, they found £48,000, and there were several other smaller farms located in Salford, Darwen and the Ribble Valley.

Electricity had been bypassed and specialist lighting, ventilation and feeding systems were in place.

Preston Crown Court heard Langford played a hands on role in the running of the enterprise, buying hydroponic equipment and paying others a wage to look after the crop.

Passing sentence last July, Judge Anthony Russell QC, said: “Kenneth Langford was at the top of this operation. He was observed on a number of occasions by the police at a number of the premises. The quantity of cannabis seized overall was such that it was apparent it was a commercial enterprise.”

Daniel Langford, 24, of Priory Grange, was linked to two addresses where cannabis was being grown and played a supporting role, the court heard.

Restaurateur Nico Rici-oppo, 67, of Clitheroe Road, Whalley, became involved when his marriage broke down and his business collapsed and Jonathon Taylor, 34, let his home be used by his landlord to grow the drug for six months.

Michael Yates, 67, of Holmfield Avenue, Blackpool, watered the plants.

Judge Russell said: “Although cannabis is a class B drug and some don’t regard it as a very dangerous drug, the fact is, it is illegal to become involved in the production of cannabis.”

He jailed Langford for four and a half years; Burrows, 40, of Anyon Street, for three years; Ben Langford for two years, nine months; Daniel Langford, of Priory Grange, for two years, three months; Nico Ricioppo for two years, three months; Jonathan Taylor, for four and a half months suspended for two years; and Michael Yates three months suspended for two years with supervision and a six-week curfew.