Addicted to drugs since age of 12

Christopher Bell, 30, tried to feed his own craving for the drug by buying a miniature cannabis factory online.

It cost him £200 including the seeds for 12 plants, but his scheme was rumbled by police when they arrived at his flat and found a tent with the plants inside.

Bell, of Shaw Road, South Shore, admitted cannabis cultivation when he appeared before Blackpool Magistrates.

He also admitted criminal damage to a flat door and window on Buchanan Street in a separate matter.

Pam Smith, prosecuting, said the damage was committed after Bell had been drinking heavily and rowed with his girlfriend. He lost his temper when he wrongly thought she was in the flat with another man.

When arrested about the cannabis find at another property, Bell told police the drug was for himself because he was such a heavy user.

Brett Chappell, defending, said:”He was was introduced to cannabis at the age of 12 and has been using it on a daily basis ever since. His daughter has come back into his life recently and now he wants to change his life.”

Magistrates put Bell on a 12-month community order with a drug rehabilitation element lasting nine months. He was fined £50 and the drug equipment will be destroyed.