A MAN converted a summerhouse shed into a cannabis production tent which had a potential yield of up to just shy of £20,000.

Nigel Edward McClements told police he had grown the 23 plants for himself as it was “increasingly expensive to buy” the Class B drug.

Bournemouth Crown Court heard this personal use claim was disputed by the prosecution, who said the quantity of the illicit drug that could have been harvested – between 644 grams and 1,932 grams – was in excess of personal use levels.

However, sentencing judge Brian Forster QC accepted the 30-year-old defendant’s stance when he issued a suspended sentence for an offence of being concerned in the producing cannabis on Tuesday, December 14.

Prosecuting, Peter Pride said police attended McClements’s address in Stillmore Road, Bournemouth, on June 11.

“The occupant there identified a summerhouse shed in the garden and directed the police to that building,” said Mr Pride.

“The officers immediately smelt a strong smell of cannabis coming from that building and it was very obvious that it was a a grow house.

“Twenty-three plants, mature and ready for harvest, were found in a makeshift grow tent.”

The prosecutor said the tent contained equipment for the cultivation of cannabis, such as lighting. Referencing an expert report, Mr Pride said the cannabis plants were assessed as being around 1.2 metres in height. Combined they had a potential yield of somewhere between £6,440 and £19,320, the court heard.

Mr Pride said in police interview the defendant said the drugs were for personal use and he had grown the plants “because it is increasingly expensive to buy cannabis”.

Mitigating, Rob Griffiths said his client should receive full credit for his guilty plea, which was entered at Poole Magistrates’ Court on August 13.

The court heard McClements had been in “some trouble” with the law up to 2012 before a gap in offending for many years.

He committed the cannabis production offence while subject to a community order.

Judge Forster QC told the defendant the possession and production of cannabis was illegal in the United Kingdom. He said after the offender obtained the grow kit he “did quite well within a sense” as he maintained 23 plants.

The judge said he accepted McClements’s claim that the drugs were for personal use.

“Frankly you should not be here at all because you are capable of so much better,” said Judge Forster QC.

McClements was handed an eight-week prison term, suspended for 12 months, with a requirement to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work and up to 20 rehabilitation activity days.

He was ordered to pay a victim surcharge and £400 costs, while the judge ordered forfeiture and destruction of the drugs and associated equipment.

Dorset Police said it did not hold a custody image of the defendant.

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