Addict who grew more than 40 cannabis plants in bedroom avoids jail
A drug addict caught growing more than 40 cannabis plants in a bedroom at his home in Cannock for his own use has avoided being jailed.
Police stumbled across Andrew Aulton's cannabis plants when they went to his home on an unrelated matter, Stafford Crown Court heard.
Mr Delroy Henry, prosecuting, said the officers immediately smelt cannabis in the property and followed the odour upstairs to a bedroom which was padlocked shut.
The defendant was told to hand over the key and inside, officers discovered 43 plants, about eight to 10 weeks away from maturity.
The court was told there was no evidence of any previously harvested crops or any paraphernalia relating to the supply of drugs.
The plants had a potential maximum yield of 1.3 kilos and experts had agreed that it was within the bounds of 'a regular heavy user of cannabis'.
Mr Henry said he accepted the cannabis was for Aulton's own personal use.
Aulton, aged 36, of Stafford Road, Cannock, who admitted a charge of producing cannabis, was given a six month prison sentence suspended for 18 months and ordered to pay a £80 surcharge.
Recorder Mr James Harvey told him: "Ordinarily, those who cultivate cannabis go immediately to prison.
"I accept what's been said - that this operation was unsophisticated. The plants were in soil, rather different from hydroponics."
Mr Andrew Wilkins, defending, said: "This was a very unsophisticated set up. It wasn't hydroponic in any way, it was rudimentary and had no irrigation system.
"The yield may be less than half the estimate."
The court heard that in 2010 Aulton had been in a car accident that left him with a head injury and depression.
His cannabis habit took hold after that. "He has struggled with his addiction and he set this up in order to make it easier to fund," Mr Wilkins added.
Last week, a man from Shropshire was given a suspended sentence at Stafford Crown Court for letting his premises in Cannock be used for a cannabis factory.
The cannabis production set-up was discovered after a fire alert at landscaper Dwaine Williams's premises on the Birch Business Park in Cannock.
Inside were 75 cannabis plants, plus seedlings and 1.6kg of ready harvested cannabis. The total yield could be worth up to £33,800 on the streets.
Williams, aged 29, of Newport Road, Hinstock, Shropshire, who admitted permitting premises to be used for the production of cannabis, was sentenced to 10 months jail suspended for two years and ordered to do 150 hours unpaid community work.
