Stacksteads cannabis grower was 'amateur' (From Lancashire Telegraph)

Stacksteads cannabis grower was 'amateur'

11:35pm Thursday 22nd September 2011 in Stacksteads By Jon Livesey, Reporter

A CANNABIS user ended up will a £1,300 bill when he tried to bypass the electrity meter to grow 53 plants at his home in Stacksteads.

'Amateurish' Stephen Lord, 32, was cultivating the plants in a bedroom and the attic, Burnley magistrates heard.

He was arrested after police, alerted by concerned local residents, turned up at his then home in David Street.

Lord, who claimed he had been growing the drugs just for his own use, wasn't that successful and only a small amount of usable cannabis was produced.

The defendant was thrown out by his landlord and he also ended up with a £1,300 bill he had to pay electricity providers, npower.

Lord, now of Holt Buildings, Stacksteads, admitted producing cannabis, on February 23 and abstracting electricity.

He was jailed for 70 days, suspended for six months, with a 20 week, 8pm to 7am curfew.

The court was told the plants were said to be small and of pure quality and a forensic scientist could not estimate what the yield of cannabis might be.

Ben Leech, for Lord, said he was not particularly good at what he was attempting to do. He grew one plant well enough to get some cannabis to smoke from it.

The defendant had taken some cuttings from a mother plant and put them into pots, but they had not grown well. Three plants could possibly have given a yield. Mr Leech said Lord had a civil agreement with npower to pay them £1,300.

Lord, who suffered depression, took medication and was formerly alcohol dependent,would not have supplied any cannabis.

The solicitor continued: "His only motivation was to produce it for himself, albeit not particularly successfully."

Sentencing, District Judge Peter Ward told the defendant: "The actual amount of usable cannabis was very small."