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A Brechin man who turned to grow-your-own after finding cannabis too expensive to buy was given an 18-month community payback order at Forfar Sheriff Court.

Shane Lamond was caught with seven plants after a tip-off that he was cultivating the drug at his home in City Road on October 26.

The court heard the plants, each worth £5 to £10, had been growing for about five weeks and were not close to harvesting, but other drugs paraphernalia was also found on the property.

Defence agent Keith McKinnon said Lamond accepted he was no stranger to the courts, but this was his first drug-related offence.

“His previous offending is mainly alcohol-related and mainly involved road traffic matters. The most significant gap in his offending occurred between September 2011 and this offence.

“He had only begun smoking cannabis fairly recently but has stopped doing that after being arrested for this,” said the agent.

Sheriff Kevin Veal said: “It concerns me that the report says he is not genuinely motivated to address his problems, that is not the sort of person who will benefit from a community-based disposal.”

He also ordered Lamond to complete 130 hours of unpaid work.