A COMPUTER consultant who quit his £60,000 job to grow cannabis plants in his attic as pain relief for his sick mother escaped a jail term yesterday.

Stephen Renton, 38, from Newtongrange, in Midlothian, was arrested after cannabis plants worth £77,000 were discovered by firefighters during a blaze at his home caused by an electrical fault.

Over two years he had cultivated about 20 different cannabis varieties and had used them to try to develop a pain- relieving cream for his mother Sheila, 67, who suffered from chronic nerve-end damage.

The High Court in Edinburgh was told that his father, Colin Renton, 67, bought the flat next-door to the family home and his son knocked the two attics together for his cannabis garden.

After the fire last May police seized a small library of books on cultivation methods. There was also a sophisticated hydroponic growing system worth £6,000, an electrical generator and powerful lighting. In a garage were seeds and plant cuttings stored in bin bags.

Police said it was the largest-ever haul of cannabis plants in the Lothian and Borders area.

Renton’s mother had taken part in a cannabis trial at Gartnaval Hospital in Glasgow but without success. The medication, delivered in the form of a spray, caused unpleasant side-effects.

No cannabis tablets were available and Renton thought that a cream might help. The court was told that when his computer consultancy business went through a bad patch two years ago, he decided to put his ideas into practice. He experimented by mixing the cannabis with alcohol and oils.

Jim Stephenson, for the defence, told the court that Renton had been on a crusade to help his mother. “This was a tunnel-vision view of trying to get a cream that would alleviate his mother’s suffering,” Mr Stephenson said. His client now realised, however, that he had made things worse for his family.

Renton admitted charges of illegally producing cannabis and being concerned in its supply. The judge, Lady Dorrian, sentenced him to 240 hours’ unpaid community work yesterday after reading background reports on the case.

Afterwards Renton said: “I am very pleased and very relieved. The court has made an investigation into the whole circumstances and realised it wasn’t a commercial operation and have been very lenient in this case.” He said that his mother still needed 27 tablets a day to help to control her pain.

“I don’t think cannabis should be legalised. There are bad side-effects. It is not for general use but if someone is on opiates for pain relief then cannabis is useful in these circumstances.”

Explore UK News

• Crime News

• Education News

• Health News

• Science News

• Scotland News

Times Recommends

• Donor organ allowed child’s own heart to heal
• Michael Jackson: Not the final chapter
• Sacha Baron Cohen forced to tone down Brüno