A man who grew up to £46,000 of cannabis in a farm outbuilding has avoided jail after a sheriff noted there was no evidence that his growing “experiment” was a professional one.
Instead, Craig McKinnon was fined £10,000 for growing 48 cannabis plants using heat lamps and an irrigation system.
The court heard that McKinnon was growing the drugs to help him with a health condition and simply failed to grasp how much cannabis his plants would yield.
McKinnon, 40, appeared at Inverness Sheriff Court for sentencing having previously pled guilty to a single charge of producing the class B drug between April 16 and May 27 of 2022.
At an earlier hearing fiscal depute Susan Love told the court that police executed a search warrant McKinnon’s address in Easter Greens near Lossiemouth on May 27 2022.
The outbuilding was secured with a padlock but when they gained access they found a number of grow tents inside.
A cable was supplying power to the tents and an electrician called to the scene confirmed power to the building was being supplied by the house.
Officers noted that the building “smelled strongly of cannabis” and one searching the property found “a herbal substance and growing equipment”.
Cannabis operation ‘somewhat excessive’
There were two rows of 12 juvenile cannabis plants and 24 mature cannabis plants all of the plants were connected to the irrigation system.
Heat lamps, air filters and insulation were also found at the property along with an opened Amazon package addressed to McKinnon.
His DNA was recovered from sockets and tents found at the scene.
Ms Love told the court the drugs recovered had an estimated potential value of between £11,400 and £46,170.
McKinnon was interviewed by police and told officers: “I don’t feel myself guilty.”
At the sentencing hearing solicitor Stephen Carty, for McKinnon, told the court his client had suffered ill health and had taken to using cannabis to self-medicate.
He said: “Mr McKinnon has then taken to an experiment in terms of cultivation.”
He said his client had looked up how to grow the drug on the internet and had not been aware of how much cannabis the plants he grew would yield and now realised that the number of plants was “somewhat excessive”.
‘A matter of great regret’
Mr Carty said McKinnon’s actions and the consequences for himself and his family were “a matter of great regret”.
Sheriff Gary Aitken told McKinnon: “This was a staggeringly ill-advised venture.
“Why you possibly thought that whatever your medical condition was you would need the quantity of cannabis produced in a shed with 48 plants is very hard to understand.
“Pain relief should be dealt with by your GP.”
He added that the growing set up gave the impression of a professional operation and said: “If I had evidence of that you would be going to jail.”
He instead fined McKinnon £10,350 and ordered the forfeiture of the items seized during the search.
