Man grew cannabis to satisfy drug habit

A POT smoker who grew cannabis in his Ipswich flat to avoid having to pay for his fix is today preparing to carry out unpaid work in the community.

A POT smoker who grew cannabis in his Ipswich flat to avoid having to pay for his fix is today preparing to carry out unpaid work in the community.

When police executed a warrant at Fabio Dimuccio's Iris Close home on December 1, they discovered 19 semi-matured plants, herbal cannabis stashed in bags and an assortment of drug-related paraphernalia.

South East Suffolk Magistrates' Court was told the estimated street value of the hoard, had it been allowed to fully mature, would have totalled �2,130.

Eight mobile phones and a lap-top were also seized in the raid.

During police interview, 20-year-old Dimuccio told officers the drugs were for his own use, revealing had a �40-a-day habit to satisfy.

Lesla Small, prosecuting, told the court Dimuccio had become “fed-up” forking out for cannabis and had decided to save money by growing his own.

Dino Barricella, mitigating, said his client had no previous convictions for drugs offences and emphasised that the plants had been for his own personal use.

Mr Barricella added: “We are not talking about a huge number of plants and they were grown for his own consumption.”

Dimuccio was ordered to carry out 80 hours of unpaid work in the community and was told to pay �65 towards court costs.

District judge David Cooper ordered that the drugs and associated paraphernalia, which included weighing scales and a book on cannabis cultivation, were forfeited.

Have you battled cannabis addiction? Write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk