A CONVICTED Bradford drug dealer caught with a £50,000 cannabis farm has been spared a jail sentence after once again turning his life around.

A judge described Martin Sykes as "hard working and industrious" when he sentenced him at Bradford Crown Court yesterday for production of cannabis and possession of the Class B drug with intent to supply.

Sykes, 46, of Glen Road, Baildon, pleaded guilty to the offences after police bust a cannabis factory at an unoccupied house in Summerfield Road in the village on July 11 last year.

Prosecutor Andrew Stranex said 100 cannabis plants were seized from the property.

It was a sophisticated set up, with growing tents, reflective sheeting, ventilation fans and fertiliser.

The farm was capable of yielding skunk cannabis with a street value of more than £50,000, the court was told.

In 1999, Sykes was jailed for 11 years for offences of Class A drug dealing in Bradford.

He was a model prisoner who was released in 2004 and had stayed out of trouble since.

Sykes' barrister, Nick Worsley, said his client had no means or assets.

Judge Neil Davey QC sentenced Sykes to two years imprisonment, suspended for two years, with 200 hours of unpaid work.

He said Sykes had led an honest and industrious life for the ten years following his release from jail and had now turned his life round again.

He had been in debt to a drug dealer and the crop was set up by others, proved by the fact that another person's fingerprints were found on cannabis growing equipment at the house.