A hard-up market trader was caught growing cannabis after he started a plantation in garage in the hope of paying off his debts.

Gareth Llewellyn-Jones was found with 22 plants and a 62 gram bag of cropped leaves when police searched his home in Newton Abbot.

He hoped to sell the cannabis to help pay off £40,000 debts but the venture was ’a disaster’, Exeter Crown Court was told.

Llewellyn-Jones, aged 32, of Western Road, admitted production of cannabis and was jailed for 12 months, suspended for two years, and ordered to do 150 hours unpaid community work.

Assistant Judge Advocate General Alan Large told him: ’This must have seemed like a good idea at the time but I hope you realise it has been a complete disaster.’

William Parkhill, prosecuting, said police raided an address in Chestnut Avenue, Newton Abbot, on September 9 last year and found 22 plants growing behind blacked-out windows in a garage.

He said the cannabis was at an advanced state of growth and if all the plants had gone on to full maturity and been harvested they would have produced a crop worth £6,100 to £18,500.

Officers also found a small bag containing 62 grams of dried cannabis, which would have been worth £622 if sold on the streets.

Mr Parkhill said Llewellyn-Jones told officers he was growing the drugs for others and planned to sell them to relieve the financial pressure he was under.

Kevin Hopper, mitigating, said his client is a market trader who sells mobile phones and accessories but who had run up debts of £40,000.

He said he now regrets his involvement and had been completely candid with the police in his interview.