A MAN who was producing cannabis in his own home has been given a 12 month conditional discharge by magistrates.

Police went to Reece Midgley’s home in Firth Street, Skipton, on May 23 last year following reports of the smell of cannabis coming from the property, heard Skipton Magistrates Court.

There was a brief struggle at the door after Midgley, 22, tried to stop the officers coming in and Midgley told his then pregnant partner to ‘lock the door’, the court heard on Friday.

Once inside, the officers found 32 cannabis stalks on a clothes drier in the dining room and a further 12 stalks upstairs.

Upstairs, police found equipment for the production of cannabis, including tents, an extractor fan and 12 bags of soil.

All of the stalks came from six plants, and the cannabis was for Midgley’s own personal use, the court heard.

Midgley, who had no previous convictions, admitted producing cannabis, a class B controlled drug.

Interviewed by police, he said he had started growing cannabis because he was spending ‘thousands of pounds every month’ and wanted to save money.

He restricted himself to an eighth a day, had smoked cannabis since he was 11 years old, and used it to cope with anxiety and to feel ‘normal’.

In mitigation, Andrew Vanzie, said had Midgley been growing six plants on his window sill he would have been cautioned, but he had in fact been drying them out in a semi-professional way.

Police had seized other items, phones and a laptop, and there was no evidence that he was doing it other than for his own use, said Mr Vanzie.

Midgley had suffered from anxiety and depression from an early age. He wanted to avoid getting into debt and so had found out how to produce cannabis for his own use.

He had also wrongly believed if he did not have more than nine plants he would only receive a ‘slap on the wrist’.

Mr Vanzie said Midgley’s problems remained, and he would be lying if he said he no longer used cannabis, but he was now a father, no longer grew it, and was seeking help from the drug and alcohol recovery service, Horizons.

Magistrates said they were pleased to hear Midgley was seeking help and that they did not want to him ‘spoil the rest of his life’.

They said he was not going to be punished, but if he appeared back in court within12 months, the conditional discharge might be re-visited. He was ordered to pay £85 costs and a £25 surcharge and a forfeiture and destruction order was made on the drugs and equipment.