St Ives carpenter Samuel Perkin grew cannabis in his home valued at £18,800
A SELF-EMPLOYED St Ives carpenter, who grew cannabis worth more than £18,000, used it to ease his chronic back pain, a court has heard.
A SELF-EMPLOYED St Ives carpenter, who grew cannabis worth more than £18,000, used it to ease his chronic back pain, a court has heard.
Samuel Perkin, 38, of Manor Close, Lelant, admitted producing the Class B drug but told police it was for personal therapeutic use.
At Truro Crown Court on Thursday, Julia Cox, for the Crown Prosecution Service, said police raided Perkin's then home, on Steeple View Court, on August 10 last year after receiving a tip off that there were cannabis plants at the address.
Officers found 2.94kg of cannabis plant material from 37 plants being grown in three areas of the property, which had been converted for growing the Class B drug with hydroponic equipment.
Ms Cox said there was no evidence that Perkin was either selling or intending to sell any of the material, despite there being enough for an estimated 7,500 cannabis cigarettes, with a street value of £18,800.
Martin Pearce, defending, said Perkin was back at work and that he employed an apprentice but that the medication he was on did not allow him to work as well as he would like to.
Sentencing, Judge Christopher Harvey Clark, QC, said: "You thought and you may be right that skunk cannabis helped relieve your pain even more [than prescription drugs] but you knew perfectly well that it was an offence."
He added: "Do not be tempted to take cannabis again, to try to grow cannabis again. You are a marked man; you have a record."
Perkin was sentenced to six months in prison suspended for 18 months and ordered to carry out 120 hours of unpaid work.
He was also told to pay £250 towards the cost of the prosecution and a £80 victim surcharge.
http://www.cornishman.co.uk 18/03/2014
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