Athritic cannabis grower sent to jail

Police searched Nathaniel Oliver’s address in Rose Avenue, Upton, Pontefract on October 17 last year and found a hydroponic set in the attic.

They discovered 36 plants with a potential yield of more than one kilogramme, Paul Nicholson prosecuting, told Leeds Crown Court.

Oliver later admitted growing them for his own personal use saying he had set up the system about a week earlier after somebody gave him the plants, but refused to say who.

The prosecution estimated the cannabis could have been worth as much as £12,000 but the defence said their expert pointed out not all the plants would necessarily have grown to maturity.

Oliver, 54, admitted producing cannabis, his third conviction for that offence.

Aysha Mazharuddin representing him told the court yesterday he had suffered from arthritis since 2004 and an MRI scan had recently indicated significant osteoarthritis in his spine.

He had previously been prescribed medication but that led to drowsiness which was no good because he was working full time.

He had then sought solace from cannabis instead.

He now realised he could not continue to do so and had returned to his GP for different medication, sought help from homeopathic remedies and joined a gym to see if that would help.

Jailing Oliver for 10 months, Judge Alastair McCallum told him he accepted it was for his own use and not commercial supply but he was not an amateur grower having two previous convictions for the same offence in 2002 and 2008.

“You may feel yourself that cannabis doesn’t do any harm and may have been smoking it for a long time but if it is going to be your intention to do this in the future, the only solution is to do it while not in this jurisdiction,” he said.