A cannabis grower proved a bit of a dope after a water leak led police straight to his mini-farm.
Water from Lewis Maxwell’s Brechin flat started dripping through the roof of his downstairs neighbours and when entry was gained to the property, surprised letting agency staff and officers found plants in various stages of development.
A Forfar Sheriff Court on Thursday, 22-year-old Maxwell received a nine-month community payback order and 80 hours of unpaid work after admitting producing the controlled drug at his home on Montrose Street, Brechin, on May 7, while on bail.
Fiscal depute Nicola Gillespie said Maxwell had taken on the flat from a letting agency about a month earlier.
On the morning of the offence, ground-floor occupants noticed there was water coming into their home and suspected it was from the flat above. Efforts were made to contact Maxwell, but when the accused failed to contact them entry was gained.
A range of drug cultivation equipment including propagators, lighting and heating was found, along with more than 40 small plants.
A further search revealed nine larger plants in a walk-in wardrobe, with the estimated value of the total cultivation about £100. When interviewed, the accused said the plants were marijuana and confirmed they were for his own use.
Defence agent Bob Bruce said abattoir worker Maxwell has a limited history of offending and he submitted that the offence was at the lower end of the drug production scale.
“He was doing it for economic reasons, for personal use,” the agent said.
“There seems to be a certain laxness among many with regard to cannabis and its production like this for personal use.”
Sheriff Kevin Veal said he was of the view that reports on the offence had suggested Maxwell had “displayed a pretty cavalier attitude to the rule of law”.
“He seems to think that what he does behind closed doors doesn’t come under the terms of the law and he needs to change that view,” he said.
“If the accused comes back before me on a similar charge he will be heading straight to Perth prison,” added the sheriff.
Sheriff Veal also ordered forfeiture of the plants and growing paraphernalia.