A Cowie cannabis dealer caught with a cultivation in his home was this week placed on a curfew.
Thomas Kitson had admitted charges of producing and being concerned in the supply of the class-B drug at his Hilton address over dates in April 2020.
Fiscal depute Ann Orr told Stirling Sheriff Court that police had received information that Kitson was supplying cannabis.
A search warrant was obtained and executed at the accused’s Hilton home on April 24, 2020.
However, Kitson told the officers that they were ‘too late’ as he had already cropped his plants.
Kitson added that he had grown two-and-a-half ounces which he had exchanged with an individual for Valium tablets.
Ms Orr said, however, that officers found “what appeared to be an active cultivation” in a bedroom with one plant still growing.
They also found cuttings and other items including heat lamps and plant food.
A phone was also discovered and, when examined, “numerous text messages” indicated “that the accused was offering cannabis for sale.”
The fiscal depute said a cannabis plant grows around two ounces and each ounce from the plant would sell for roughly £200.
Kitson’s agent Ken Dalling told Sheriff Derek Hamilton that Kitson had been subject to an ongoing deferred sentence with “various processes” brought to an end at the end of last month. These had pre-dated the matters before the court.
Kitson, however, had previously failed to appear for court proceedings and a warrant for his arrest was granted.
That “caught up with him” and a criminal justice social work report was requested by the court.
Mr Dalling also pointed out that Kitson had sustained “significant injuries” in a motor accident during his time in the Army which had “a life-changing effect” on him.
Sheriff Hamilton told 34-year-old Kitson: “This is your second conviction for dealing in drugs.
“It is with some hesitation you are not getting a 12-month custodial sentence today.
“If you breach this [restriction of liberty] order you will get 12 months in custody.”
He imposed a 12-month Restriction of Liberty Order (tag) confining Kitson to his home between the hours of 4pm and 4am.
