Dad's drug factory above child's room
A DAD who set up a secret cannabis factory above his child's bedroom has been spared jail so he can rebuild his relationship with his wife.
Barry Pitman's wife said she would divorce him if he resumes his 30-a-day cannabis smoking habit which led him to create the illegal loft conversion at their home in Hatfield, near Doncaster.
While his wife was working as a hairdresser, the 30-year-old and his best friend fitted an artificial growing unit into the loft of the property in Slay Pit Lane.
Police who raided the house last October went up a stairway from the child's bedroom to the loft, where they found 36 stalks of cannabis hanging up to dry, with professional hydroponics, filters and fans to boost the plants' growth.
Clive Cook, prosecuting at Doncaster Crown Court, said the cannabis had such a high yield it could have had a potential street value of more than 14,000.
Pitman was arrested and "completely exonerated" his wife, telling officers he had set it up for his own use.
His friend, Christopher Alan Drake, also 30, of Lancaster Drive, Hatfield, is an electrician by trade and was also arrested for helping with the wiring to the unit.
Both men pleaded guilty to a charge of being involved in the production of drugs.
Drake had helped out as a friend and received no financial reward, said Mr Cook.
Michael Cane-Soothill, defending Pitman, said he expected to go to jail but his real problems flowed from his wife.
He said: "She is absolutely furious about this and has told him if there is any repetition he will be getting divorced and will be in the Family Court. He fears that more than custody."
Mr Cane-Soothill said Pitman had been smoking cannabis for 15 years but had developed such a tolerance that he was smoking between 20 and 30 worth a day.
It was having such an impact on the family finances that he wanted to grow his own.
Ged Hale, defending Drake, said his only role was in connecting some wiring to the loft but he accepted he had been very stupid.
Judge Jacqueline Davies told the friends she was just persuaded to suspend the prison term because of their early guilty pleas.
Pitman received 26 weeks and Drake, with previous convictions, received 39 weeks, both suspended for 18 months. They were also ordered to do 150 hours of unpaid work.
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