A Muthill man caught with cannabis plants worth £4,500 in an early-morning raid on his cottage has dodged jail.
Donald Gorrie, 48, was found growing nine cannabis plants within four tents at Oak Tree Cottage on Lintibert Road.
The Courier had joined police on the raid which was carried out as part of Operation Slate, an ongoing intelligence-led initiative to target drug-related crime across the region.
Officers had received numerous pieces of intelligence that led them to believe drugs were being grown in the house.
The most relevant piece of information related to a high usage of electricity in the cottage, which indicated that someone was using electricity for an unorthodox reason.
The property was a small, detached cottage with a wooden door and the cannabis was thought to be located inside a back bedroom.
Officers were positioned to the front and rear of the property and, with no one at home, they used a hydraulic battering ram to smash their way into the cottage.
As it was cannabis and not cocaine they were looking for, there was believed to be no threat that the suspect could flush any evidence down the toilet.
On entering the property the officers were immediately hit by the smell of growing cannabis. In a bedroom at the rear of the house they discovered a stash of well-matured cannabis plants and a bin full of cannabis leaves that appeared to be used for mixing.
Officers also discovered six heat lamps with reflectors, ventilation units, fans and a dehumidifier.
Solicitor David Holmes told Perth Sheriff Court yesterday that Gorrie had been growing the cannabis for his own personal use due to medical issues.
He stated that a relative who was aware that Gorrie grew cannabis phoned the police after the pair fell out.
Sheriff Simon Collins said: “I will proceed on the basis that this was for your personal use. I will leave aside the scientific base for your claims to use it for pain relief, which to my mind are objectively unproven.”
Gorrie, who admitted producing cannabis at Oak Tree Cottage on September 4, was fined £500 and sentenced to a three-month restriction of liberty order between 7pm and 7am.