A man whose cannabis cultivation started a fire in his top-floor flat has avoided a jail sentence.
Thomas Watson, 59, previously admitted producing the Class B drug and culpably and recklessly leaving a heated lamp switched on and unattended, causing a fire to break out in his flat on Elba Street in Ayr.
Ayr Sheriff Court heard last month that Watson refused entry to firefighters on January 26 last year when they requested to check his flat over following reports from a downstairs neighbour of the smelling of smoke.
Watson stated that he did not need assistance and claimed a small cooker fire was the reason for the smoke, which he had extinguished.
Firefighters stressed they needed to inspect the property and after entering the home, SFRS officers discovered cannabis plants and equipment used with the production of the drug.
The plants were said to be worth between £200 and £400 each, with a total evaluation given as between £6,000 and £12,000.
The total damage to the property was estimated at £740.
At the sentencing hearing today, solicitor Ian Gillies said Watson keeps “very poor health” and recently underwent major surgery “to basically save his leg”, which he is still receiving treatment for.
Mr Gillies said: “He’s been using cannabis for a long, long time, and rather than buy cannabis in the street he started growing it, using the internet as a way of how to go about that.
“There was a small fire which by the time the fire brigade got there it was still smoking.
“Mr Watson’s position is that the plants found within his property were at various stages of growth.
“Some were very small, not more than seeds, but some were all the way up to bushes.
“He was harvesting that for himself and no-one else.
“When you cultivate cannabis and through the process of drying it, it’s a lot less powerful than buying cannabis resin in the street.
“He’s been using it so often his body has built up a tolerance to it.
“He fully accepts and realises that’s entirely illegal and that’s why he put forward a plea of guilt, and is willing to face the consequences.”
Sheriff Shirley Foran placed Watson on a community payback order — made up of 30 months supervision and a four month restriction of liberty order — due to a “lack of previous offending” and the “remorse” he has shown.
But the Sheriff warned him about the serious nature of the charge and the risk it posed to neighbours.
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