A scientist who used expert knowledge from his microbiology degree to run a "magic mushroom" factory has been spared jail.
Former banker Jake Kaine, 36, was arrested after police found a tent in his spare room to grow thousands of pounds worth of the hallucinatory psychedelic drug for himself and his friends.
During the raid, police found a haul of magic mushrooms worth almost £6,000 plus various jars and test tubes containing the elements of the drug.
Fertiliser, scales, mushroom seeds, a recipe book for growing mushrooms and three mobile telephones were also seized.
It emerged Kaine, who got a Masters research microbiology degree at Liverpool University in 2019, had been growing the drug for his own use and was selling the excess to friends.
Despite his knowledge of the drug, he claimed to have mistakenly thought magic mushrooms were Class C drugs as opposed to them being graded as Class A drugs alongside heroin and cocaine.
Kaine, who works as a mental health support worker, admitted producing and supplying magic mushrooms, possession with intent to supply and unlawful possession of 120 tablets of diazepam.
At Chester Crown Court, he was sentenced to two years jail, suspended for 24 months, and was ordered to complete 300 hours unpaid work.
Jayne Morris, prosecuting, said: "On Wednesday the 14th of July 2021 police officers attended the defendant's home.
"They had received a report from a male at the address that he thought he had been poisoned. When police officers arrived at the address they were greeted by the defendant.
"The defendant's partner was in the lounge clearly under the influence of drugs or alcohol. He also said that he had taken magic mushrooms.
"The police officers then spoke with the defendant who said he regularly took drugs went on to say that he believed he was struggling with the side effects of magic mushrooms."
After police discovered a bag of magic mushrooms in his kitchen, Ms Morris said that officers carried out a search of the property and found more of the drug and scales in the kitchen.
They also found 120 diazepam tablets in his bedroom and a large tent in the spare room that was erected to grow magic mushrooms.
Ms Morris told the court: "He said they had the scales so that they could measure the quantities they were taking safely. There was the residue of magic mushrooms on the lower shelf.
"Various jars, tubs, and bags of magic mushrooms were seized together with test tubes containing mushrooms.
"Drug paraphernalia, fertiliser, scales, nutrient agar, mushroom seeds, a recipe book for mushrooms and three mobile telephones were seized.
"A total of 291.33 g of mushrooms were seized containing psilocin and psilocybin with a street value of between £1,500 and £5,820. The diazepam has been valued at between £120 and £240."
Ms Morris said that during a police interview Kaine told officers he is a scientist, and wanted to try taking magic mushrooms to help with his mental health, so he researched how to grow them before buying the ingredients online and in shops.
"He had grown them for about two months and wasn't going to sell them but did sell a handful to a friend for £10," the prosecutor added.
The court heard he pleaded guilty to the offences on the basis that he had grown the drugs for his own use, that he had no idea what crop they would yield, and that he thought they were class C drugs and not class A.
He had also only sold to two friends, including the £10 deal and another £100 deal he had posted to another friend, and would only have sold other mushrooms that were surplus to his requirements.
In mitigation, defence counsel David Rose said his client could not be seeking significant financial gain, since he had been growing the drugs for his own use, and was only selling excess to his requirements.
He said: "Common sense says it was not for significant financial gain. In my respectful submission there is some difficulty in coming to a figure as to what the financial gain would have been.
"He is not able to give precise information as to what he would have sold.
"But it is akin to a more usual case of someone growing cannabis for their own use and finding the have got rather more than they bargained for which they could not consume themselves."
"Notwithstanding his intelligence, he was labouring under a misapprehension at the time that this was a class C drug. He now fully understands the gravity of what he has done.
"He has since taken lots of actions to move on with his life and he has seen the error of his ways and improved himself.
"There are a number of character references that he has supplied that I would ask you to take into account in terms of his personal mitigation. I do ask you to take into account his naivety."
Sentencing Kaine, judge Mr Recorder Martin MacDonald told him: "You are a scientist and you wanted to grow some mushrooms for your own consumption.
"I accept that there was only one crop of mushrooms and I accept that you sold one £10 quantity to a friend, and one other £100 quantity to a friend and that these are the only actual sales that occurred.
"But also, you accept you would have sold more of those drugs to others but it would only have been to friends and only sums in excess of what you required for your own personal use.
"I accept that you believe that the mushrooms that you were growing were class C drugs and not class A drugs.
"That does not amount to a defence but it is a factor to take into account and I accept your remorse and steps taken to address the difficulties in your life that led to this offending."
