"YOU ought to be spending time helping your wife – not sitting on walls drinking and damaging other people's property".
That was the advice of a Grimsby Crown Court judge to a Cleethorpes man who admitted growing cannabis and stealing an extractor fan from an empty property.
Prosecuting, Simon Waley said that a police raid on his property on August 17 had revealed that father-of-two Paul Burns, 32, of Daubney Street, had been using the loft to grow cannabis for his own use, as it "helped" his mental health issues.
A total of 24 plants of varying sizes were discovered – though an estimated yield had not been calculated by police – together with a "tennis ball-sized" bag of herbal cannabis and ten "wraps" which he used to take the drug out with him.
Mr Waley also told the court that Burns had been convicted of stealing an extractor fan from a Blundell Avenue property – which was being renovated for the rental market – after blood found at the scene matched his DNA.
He added that in stealing the fan, £500 of damage had been caused to the house.
Mitigating, Andrew Bailey said Burns made an effort to ensure his two young children did not know what was going on in terms of his drug use.
He added that he had been cajoled into entering the Blundell Avenue property after he and a friend had been drinking on a wall outside it and noticed a stained glass window had been smashed.
It had been their intention to go in to "simply chill".
Recorder Felicity Davies said: "This was an absolutely stupid offence.
"Instead of going out and getting drunk, you should be at home helping your wife look after two small children.
"It's also extremely stupid to grow cannabis in your own home – it goes beyond stupidity that you do this when this home is shared by your wife and small children.
"You say you use it to try to help your mental condition.
"That in itself is stupid, as cannabis can cause mental health issues, never mind helping them."
He was given a 12-month community order, with a four month curfew.
