Man grew £4k worth of drugs

Police were looking for someone else when they went to Paul Creswick’s then-home in Bolsover Road, Shuttlewood, on February 29.

But they asked to look around the property after smelling cannabis and found a ‘growing tent’ in a back bedroom containing three large plants.

“He said he was growing them for his own use and he regularly smoked cannabis,” Mike Treharne, prosecuting, told magistrates at Chesterfield. “The plants were very mature and a week away from being cropped. If sold in deals the crop would have been worth £4,710.”

Creswick, 27, said he had no intention to sell any cannabis and was growing the plants to save money as he spent £40 a week on the drug. Creswick, of New Road, admitted producing cannabis. He had previous convictions for burglary and theft. He was given a 9pm - 6am curfew for 12 weeks, with 80 hours unpaid work and £85 costs.

Julia Bosworth, for Creswick, said he worked in the landscape and building trades and had suffered “wear and tear” to his knees as a result.

He looked up how to grow cannabis on the internet and bought three cuttings for £15 and spent about £800 on growing equipment.

Ms Bosworth said Creswick was spending about £2,000-a-year on the drug so the initial outlay made sense financially.