An oil worker who turned to growing cannabis to support himself after he lost his job due to the North Sea downturn has been jailed for 12 months.
Oliver Georgopollous was made redundant more than two years ago and found employment as a delivery driver to support himself.
But he said he couldn’t live on his £700 to £900-a-month wages, so started growing cannabis in a tent in his Dundee flat to give himself a second income.
When police found his cultivation, made up of sophisticated equipment, he said he didn’t smoke the drug, but grew it to sell on to “make a bit of money”.
Georgopollous, 28, of Ballindean Terrace, pleaded guilty on indictment to charges of producing and supplying cannabis from his home address between March 12 2015 and March 12 2016.
Fiscal depute Eilidh Robertson told the sheriff court the drugs found growing in his flat had a maximum value of £8,400 — though his lawyer said they were worth around half that.
She said: “The accused was detained and stated: ‘I can make a bit of money’ and ‘I don’t smoke it’.
“He admitted growing the cannabis found in his home and admitted that he sold it on to other persons, not smoking any of it himself, other than to try out his crop when it was ready, which would be about every two months.”
Defence solicitor Anika Jethwa said: “He started off selling to friends and that then became to friends of friends. It escalated when he lost his job.” Sheriff Alastair Carmichael said: “There is no option but a custodial sentence.”
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