A MIDDLE-AGED cannabis grower who was attacked with a knife when he tried to wholesale his crop to pay off mortgage arrears was compared to the main character in the hit TV series Breaking Bad by his barrister at Bradford Crown Court.

Joseph Pickles was severely injured when he grabbed the blade of the weapon while he was threatened at his home by criminals wanting to steal his crop.

He needed eight hours of surgery after the confrontation at his address in Apperley Road, Apperley Bridge, Bradford, on January 31.

Pickles, 52, was targeted when he tried to find a cash buyer for the three kilos of cannabis he was growing and harvesting at his home, his barrister Adam Walker told the court yesterday.

"It is a scenario echoed in the TV series Breaking Bad," Mr Walker said.

Pickles did not want to expose himself to danger by competing with street dealers so he decided to sell his crop to one buyer.

He asked around in local pubs to see if anyone was interested, attracting the attention of those who came to his door.

Pickles, who got into mortgage arrears when he lost his job, researched growing cannabis on the internet.

He had harvested one grow and it was drying out while a second crop of 36 plants was under way.

Pickles pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing at Bradford and Keighley Magistrates' Court to production of cannabis and possession of the Class B drug with intent to supply.

Prosecutor Dave MacKay said the one and a half kilos of drying cannabis was valued at £13,000 and the growing plants had a potential value of £14,500, giving a total potential value of approaching £28,000.

Mr Walker told the court Pickles was "basically a nice man" and a novice at tending a cannabis farm.

He was threatened by more sophisticated criminals wanting to get their hands on the drug.

"He has already been very severely punished as a result of this," Mr Walker told the court.

Pickles was now about to start a job in a "responsible managerial position".

Judge Peter Benson sentenced him to eight months imprisonment, suspended for two years, with a six month curfew order. He must attend a probation service activity requirement and pay £500 legal costs.

Breaking Bad is an US crime drama in which a struggling chemistry teacher turns to a life of crime, producing and selling crystallized methamphetamine to try to secure his family's financial future.