A Moray joiner turned to growing cannabis after all of his tools were stolen.
Kevin Davidson was caught with 17 plants with a value of up to £15,000 when police raided a home in Buckie last year.
Officers had received intelligence the 43-year-old had been growing cannabis and found plants in his bedroom and in a wardrobe.
Davidson appeared at Elgin Sheriff Court yesterday for sentencing after admitting the offence at a previous hearing.
Defence solicitor Stephen Carty explained his client had not intended to grow that much cannabis but had been surprisingly successful in his endeavour.
Mr Carty stressed that the drugs were for Davidson’s own use and he did not intend to sell them.
He said: “This was a fool-hardy experiment. He decided to grow the plants as an experiment for his own personal use.
“Then, depending on your view point, luckily or unluckily he seemed to get a fairly big yield, which surprised Mr Davidson – it was not something he was expecting.
“He’s a qualified joiner and has been in employment but there was a period where he couldn’t work because all of his tools were stolen and his life seemed to go downhill from there fairly rapidly.”
Mr Carty added that his client had already been punished by being remanded in custody since March due to having no home address.
Officers raided the Buckie property on May 20 last year after receiving information about drugs being in the building. The cannabis plants were seized by officers as they searched the house.
Fiscal Kevin Corrins said: “Two growing areas were discovered by police in the bedroom and in a wardrobe. There were 15 mature plants and two smaller ones.
“The value is estimated on their potential – it could be £250 to £900 per plant, depending on productivity.”
Davidson, of no fixed abode, was placed under supervision for nine months after pleading guilty to producing cannabis at Chancellor Road in Buckie on May 20 last year.