Burnley drug user started to grow his own (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Burnley drug user started to grow his own

6:00am Wednesday 31st October 2012 in News

A CANNABIS user who was spending most of his benefits cash on drugs started to grow his own, a court heard.

Lee James Bond, 44, had 31 sapling cannabis plants in a tent in his back bedroom when police raided his flat in Burnley, on March 28.

Bond, who became a heroin addict when he was 22 and had not worked since, had been getting £171 a fortnight benefits and had a cannabis habit of £60 a week, the town’s crown court was told.

The court heard Bond’s attempts at cultivating cannabis were described as ‘quite pathetic’ by an officer.

The plants had a ‘rudimentary’ hydroponic system’ and none of them could be sent off for analysis of potential yield.

Bond, of Gill Street, had admitted producing cannabis. He was sentenced to six months in jail, suspended for 18 months, with 18 months’ supervision.

Bond had 36 offences on his record, including possession of Class A drugs, but had not been in court for five years.