Man receives 150 hours for growing cannabis in home

A sheriff sentenced a Fort William man to 150 hours of unpaid work in the community after police found cannabis plants growing in a cupboard.

Craig Mitchell Hulston, of Campbell Court in the town’s Plantation area, had previously pleaded guilty by letter to two offences.

Hulston, 53, had admitted to producing cannabis at his home on October 27 last year and to being in possession of cannabis on the same date.

The court heard how police officers attending a nearby road traffic collision had detected a strong smell of cannabis from both the front and rear of the property.

The officers had some relevant intelligence and so a search warrant was obtained.

The officers attended the property and Hulston freely admitted cannabis cultivation, with plants growing in a cupboard in the hallway.

Hulston told the officers he was growing the plants for his own use. Various other small amounts of cannabis were discovered during the search.

Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald had deferred sentence until last week for a criminal justice social work report and for further clarification of the values of the drugs involved.

When Hulston appeared for sentencing last week, Procurator Fiscal Robert Weir told the court the value of the cannabis plants had been £1,800 in total.

Defence agent Hamish Melrose told Sheriff Eilidh MacDonald that Hulston, a labourer, had been quite candid about his position, and that he maintained there was a medical background to the whole affair.

‘I know a medical explanation is not a defence but it is an explanation tendered by Mr Hulston,’ he said.

‘It is rather a potentially awkward position because of his directly analogous offence from two or three years ago.

‘But since this matter was reported he has cut down on his cannabis use and will not grow more despite the medical benefits to him.

‘He is highly rated as an employee by a local building firm and is in full-time employment.’

Sheriff MacDonald said she was persuaded to deal with the matter by way of a community-based disposal.

But she warned Hulston: ‘You were told once by this court not to grow cannabis and then you have gone and done it again.

‘The 150 hours of unpaid work in the community is a direct alternative to custody.’

Sheriff MacDonald granted a Crown motion for forfeiture of the cannabis plants and various items used in growing them, including an extractor, lamp and shield.