Father grew cannabis to tackle debts

Robert Tutin, 26, of Deightonby Street, Thurnscoe had been struggling with debts and began growing the drug partly for his own use and to sell on.

He told police he had been smoking cannabis occasionally since he was 16 but became a regular user following a family tragedy in 2011.

A single man, he lives in rented accommodation but works as a motorway maintenance engineer and has two children aged six and three from two previous relationships whom he sees at weekends.

"He works away and is now in Whitby returning at weekends," his lawyer Sean Fritchley told Sheffield Crown Court.

"He contributes to their upkeep and his greatest fear is losing his job and his contact with his children. He takes his responsibilities as a father extremely seriously."

Neighbours reported the smell of cannabis emanating from his property on February 13 and officers found a door glass panel had been smashed and the house broken into.

Brian Outhwaite, prosecuting, said nobody was present but a cannabis growing set-up was found in a small front upstairs bedroom.

There were lights, an extractor fan and water butt with feed along with a dozen plants of which six had been cropped.

When Tutin returned home the next day he was arrested.

"This was a commercial enterprise based on his full and frank admission to police," said Mr Outhwaite.

"He was hoping to make a thousand pounds per plant."

The growing equipment cost him nearly £500 and he learned how to cultivate cannabis from the internet.

He had been growing it since November last year and claimed he had no idea who had broken in to steal the crop that was harvested.

He admitted producing cannabis from November 1, 2013 to February 13 this year.

Mr Fritchley said Tutin planned to sell some of the cannabis although half of the first batch of plants turned mouldy. He cropped the rest and planted seedlings.

Recorder Nicholas Campbell QC told Tutin: "You have made a very foolish mistake but having become involved in this enterprise it has come to nothing. The reality is you haven't gained anything from this criminal activity."

He gave Tutin a nine-month prison sentence suspended for two years and ordered him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid community work.