A JUDGE told a drug user who was growing cannabis in the family home to think about his children.

Craig Michael Davidge, of Exeter Way, Thetford, pleaded guilty to producing the Class B drug, possessing 166.28g of cannabis resin and a CS gas incapacitation spray.

West Suffolk Magistrates’ Court in Bury St Edmunds was told that the 34-year-old father, who lives with his partner and three children, had only recently started growing for his own use when police called at his home.

Rosalind Cappleman, prosecuting, said that officers who went to the address on October 11 last year to execute a warrant saw Davidge drop two cannabis plants out of a rear bedroom window. She added that a search of the house uncovered cannabis leaves drying in an airing cupboard, a wooden box of “green herbal matter”, a block of cannabis resin, a hydroponic growing kit and a CS can.

The court was told the plants were his first crop and the gas was given to him by a friend after an attempted burglary.

Sally Dale, defending, said since the incident Davidge had joined a drug rehabilitation project and reduced his cannabis intake.

Sentencing Davidge to a 12-month community order with supervision, District Judge Celia Dawson said: “I appreciate you were doing it because it was cheaper than buying it, but you were setting up a cannabis factory in your home to which children had access. You need to think about the example you’re setting.”