Cannabis plants were watered from toilet

Published on Monday 19 July 2010 16:56

POLICE who raided a house uncovered a mini cannabis farm watered from a toilet.

The Class B drug was grown with the aid of a complex hydroponics growing system sourced from the loo, Livingston Sheriff Court heard yesterday.

Officers found seedlings in a cupboard and large plants in the loft of David Murray's home in Livingston, West Lothian.

Murray, 40, pleaded guilty on indictment to producing herbal cannabis at his home in Darwin Street Livingston.

He was jailed for a year, despite claiming that the cannabis, valued by the Crown at 4,000, was for his own use.

John Barclay, prosecuting, said police armed with a search warrant forced their way into the house in March this year. They were acting on a tip-off.

A search of the empty house uncovered a growing area in a landing cupboard with 19 cannabis seedlings. In a bedroom officers found a large box of cannabis leaves and cuttings, and in the loft they discovered 18 large cannabis plants.

He said: "There was quite a complicated system including pipes to allow water to feed the plants, insulated wall sections and a heat extraction system for the lighting.

"All the plants tested positive for cannabis. The value was some 4,000, although it's difficult to be precise."

Murray's solicitor Alan Jackson said: "The value for him is immaterial because he does not engage in sharing cannabis and he doesn't supply it to others.

"He's been growing cannabis for some time, it's a long standing habit. " At this time he was smoking about 20 joints per day and he set up his own production unit for his own supply.

The sheriff said the appropriate sentence would have been 18 months, but he reduced that by a third because Murray pleaded guilty .