Rotherham drug user reported theft of own cannabis

A CANNABIS grower who called the police after a raid on his own home in which his plants were stolen has narrowly escaped a jail sentence.

Matthew Warnes (29), of Meadow Close, Catcliffe, rang 999 following the burglary in which three plants were pinched.

He told a previous hearing that he had raised the alarm as he was concerned for the safety of a friend at the property but was this week sentenced for production of cannabis.

Rotherham Magistrates’ Court heard on Tuesday that Warnes called the police to say that three of his cannabis plants had been stolen, and officers arriving at the house found a small growing set-up with three remaining plants and packaged bags of the harvested drugs.

Police also discovered a tent, heat lamps and pots of compost in Warnes' bedroom.

He told officers that that the £250 set-up was his first attempt at growing cannabis and that the plants had not done very well.

At an earlier hearing the District Judge for Rotherham, Ms Jane Goodwin, asked Warnes why he was using cannabis to treat his depression when he was also seeing a doctor for his condition.

"You don’t take cannabis for depression, especially if you are seeing your GP anyway,” she said.

Ms Louise Giblin, for Warnes, said that he had in fact been using the drug recreationally since 2001.

Ms Giblin asked for leniency on the grounds that Warnes had called the police out of worry for his friend and admitted to growing cannabis straight away.

Judge Goodwin replied: "He was forced to ring them because he had been burgled and he was burgled because he was connected with drugs.”

At Tuesday’s hearing, Warnes was sentenced to 26 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months and ordered to complete 150 hours of unpaid work.