A REDDITCH man has pleaded guilty to growing cannabis for his own consumption.

Police uncovered a cannabis factory when they investigated an armed raid at house in Redditch, Worcester Crown Court was told.

There were two fully-grown plants, which could have produced £9,000 worth of the drug in a year, and two trays containing 130 maturing seedlings.

Alan Wilkes, who was the victim of the raid on the property in Lygon Close, claimed that he had been in partnership with Marcus Tomlinson, who was subsequently jailed for seven years for his part in the raid.

Wilkes, aged 40, and now of Hewell Road, Redditch, told Judge Michael Cullum that the idea of cultivating had been to sell to a selected number of contracts but he said that Tomlinson became greedy when he realised the money which could be made.

Wilkes said he was sick of being ripped off by dealers and decided to grow his own after watching a series on Youtube. He had been a cannabis addict for 19 years.

Judge Cullum said there was no evidence of dealers lists but two people had gone into partnership to grow the plants. There would be a cheap source of cannabis plus an amount for sale.

He jailed Wilkes for 21 months suspended for two years and ordered him to do 150 hours unpaid work and pay £1,000 prosecution costs. The cannabis growing equipment would be destroyed.