A 69-year-old grandfather who converted his bedroom into a cannabis farm has avoided an immediate jail term.

Christopher Wroe told police who raided his council house on Landscove Avenue in Holme Wood, almost two years ago that he smoked 20 joints a day and that the 52 small plants being grown were for his personal use.

However, a West Yorkshire Police drugs expert said the scale of the operation meant that the cannabis had a street value of more than £24,000.

Sentencing Wroe at Bradford Crown Court to 24 months imprisonment suspended for two years, Her Honour Judge Kirstie Watson said: “I am satisfied that you had a significant role in this operation. You knew the extent of it. You had the expectation yourself of significant financial gain.

“You were able to sell drugs but also you were using it for your own purposes.

“It was something that you ran yourself. I accept there was nobody else involved in it.”

Prosecutor Matthew Moore-Taylor said the cannabis grow was discovered on November 8, 2022, when police executed a search warrant at Wroe’s house, which was described as “not to be having the appearance of a normal residential dwelling as [Wroe] had to step over furniture to get through the address". 

A cannabis farm was found in the upstairs front bedroom with evidence of an earlier grow in the back bedroom.

Equipment including lights, an extractor fan, a socket, and five transformers had been used to grow the 52 six-inch tall plants. That expensive equipment was estimated to have cost almost £1,800 to buy.

The house’s electricity had also been bypassed.

Police found “a large quantity of cash” on the premises, but Wroe said it was winnings from a betting shop - an explanation that was accepted by the police.

The plants were said to be capable of yielding 2.86kg of cannabis with a wholesale value of between £12,000 and £17,000, and with a street value of £24,510.

A further 300g of cannabis in various packages discovered in the house, if sold in 102 street deals of 3.5g, could have realised more than £3,000.

The court heard that the police drugs expert formed the view that Wroe’s grow was “way beyond that of a small, self-supply set-up” and was “a well-established cannabis production enterprise”.

In an interview, Wroe accepted that he was guilty of producing cannabis and abstracting electricity. He explained that he had used cannabis all his adult life and that the grow was for his own personal use as he smoked in the region of 20 joints a day.

The court heard Wroe had a string of previous convictions, mainly for dishonesty, with the most recent dating back to 2001 involving fraudulent evasion of excise duty.

Mitigating, Nicholas Leadbeater said Wroe’s operation lacked the presence of an intricate hydroponic system, indicating a professional operation, and that no mobile phone was found containing messages about drug supply.

He said the money found at the scene was from a legitimate source and that Wroe was “not a well man” who, despite his previous “unenviable record” was a grandfather with caring duties for his 10-year-old grandson, who often visited him.

Having regard for Wroe’s age and health Judge Watson said she was “just persuaded” to suspend his sentence.

She ordered him to undertake 25 rehabilitation activity requirement days and to be subject to a nine-month 7pm to 7am curfew.

She said Wroe must pay court costs of £1,630 plus a victim surcharge and ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the drugs and growing equipment.