Police raided a remote house on Skye after getting a tip-off a 54-year-old mum was growing cannabis, Portree Sheriff Court heard yesterday.
Fiscal David Morton described how officers with search warrants found 18 plants at the home of Sharon Buchanan, eight of which were under a heat fan in an upstairs boxroom, and 10 in a polytunnel.
He said: “The house is in a very rural location. There are no direct neighbours. The accused was co-operative and handed officers a small amount of cannabis resin.
“She said the plants, which have a rough street value of £200 each, were for her own use.”
Defence lawyer Duncan Burd said his client had two children living at the house at 16 Bornesketaig, Kilmuir, Skye, and two at university.
He said: “The accused, Sharon Buchanan, and her husband live a very organic life-style and also a very self-sufficient life style.
“Police would have found many plants and vegetables growing at the house as well as the cannabis
“She believes cannabis can help with certain ailments.”
Buchanan, a first offender, admitted the cultivation charge between December 2015 and April 2016, and possessing the cannabis resin.
Sheriff Eric Brown fined her a total of £250.