Teesside justices tell Hartlepool man he could have been jailed for homemade cannabis farm

Officers found 14 mature plants with a potential value of over £10,000 when they turned up at Paul Rowbotham’s house in Cundall Road, Hartlepool last June.

Gurjot Kaur, prosecuting at Teesside Magistrates’ Court, said: “Police received reports at the defendant’s address saying a dog was constantly barking.

"When the officers forced entry to that address they basically found a cannabis farm in a specific room.”

The front bedroom set up was described as “quite sophisticated” with extractor fans and other equipment to encourage the plants to grow.

The plants were said to be almost ready for cultivating. Miss Kaur said they could have produced £3,900 to £11,760 of cannabis.

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Rowbotham, 32, maintained it was all for his personal use and pleaded guilty to production of a class B drug.

Alex Bousefield, mitigating, said: “He should have known better to get involved in drugs but clearly he had a long-standing problem.”

Mr Bousefield said Rowbotham, who lost his house as a result of the cannabis discovery, has undergone training for work in the construction industry and is in an “all round better position” than 10 months ago.

Chair of the bench Arthur Smyrell told Rowbotham, of Lime Crescent, Hartlepool: “You do need to realise that we could have sent you to prison today.

"But we have stepped away from custody and believe that a community order is the appropriate sentence.”

The order will run for 12 months and include 200 hours of unpaid work and 25 rehabilitation activity days.

He was also ordered to pay £85 costs and a £114 surcharge.