JAILED: Former soldier who developed £270-a-week cannabis habit to cope with PTSD

Police found the crop from eight skunk plants being dried at the home of John Carnell.

They also discovered the stalks and pots in which they had been grown and the hydroponic system used to aid cultivation, Wolverhampton Crown Court heard.

Mr Ian Windridge, prosecuting, explained: "There were clear indications that the cannabis had recently been harvested."

Police had to force an entry to the flat at Monmouth Drive, Hill Top, West Bromwich, because nobody was in when they arrived with a search warrant on February 1 last year, the court heard.

A metal door had been fitted by the local authority to cover up the damage by the time they returned in search of the occupant seven days later, continued the prosecutor.

Carnell was at home on this occasion, appeared at a first floor window but refused to give police the code to open the emergency door, forcing them to get it from the council, continued Mr Windridge.

When the officers finally got inside, they discovered the 47-year-old defendant had barricaded himself in a bedroom. He would not co-operate, behaved strangely and it took them some time to bring him under control, said the prosecutor, who accepted the crop was entirely for his own use.

Mr Oliver Woolhouse, defending, said Carnell had been held in custody for six-and-a-half months after failing to appear at an earlier hearing of the case.

The defendant, who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, was now prepared to be assessed and receive treatment from a Sandwell Health Trust crisis team, continued his lawyer.

Carnell pleaded guilty to producing cannabis and was given 18 weeks jail, ensuring his immediate release because of the amount of time already spent in custody on remand.

Judge Robin Onions told him: "There is no evidence you were dealing drugs. The cannabis was entirely for your own use. You were trying to self medicate your physical and mental problems."