Oilman is jailed for year after growing cannabis

AN OIL worker who turned to growing cannabis to support himself after the North Sea downturn forced him out of work has been jailed for a year.

Oliver Georgopollous was made redundant from his post in the oil industry more than two years ago and took a job as a delivery driver.

But he said he couldn’t live on his £700 to £900 a month wages, so he started growing cannabis in a tent in his Dundee flat to give himself a second income.

When police found his cultivation, he said he didn’t smoke the drug himself, but grew it to sell on to “make a bit of money”.

Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson told Dundee Sheriff Court the drugs found growing in his flat had a maximum value of £8400, although his lawyer said they were worth about half that.

She said: “A search of the property was undertaken, during which a cannabis cultivation consisting of 14 healthy mature plants was found.

“Cannabis cultivation equipment, including fans, power units, plant food, thermostats, sprayers, water pumps, extractors, filters, scales, grinders and irrigation systems, was also found within the room, as were threecontainerscontaininga total of around 11 grams of harvested herbal cannabis.”

Georgopollous, 28, pleaded guilty to producing and supplying cannabis from his home between March 12, 2015 and March 12, 2016.

Defence solicitor Anika Jethwa said: “He started off selling to friends and that then became to friends of friends. It escalated when he lost his job. In the end it was almost a relief to be caught, to an extent.”