A Southampton landlord who turned a blind eye to cannabis being grown in a flat he rented out has escaped jail.
Justin Griffiths, 31, rented out the flat in Gordon Avenue, Southampton, and admitted to the court allowing the premises to be used for drug production.
Police discovered cannabis with a potential yield of between £8,000 and £10,000 a year being grown in the ground floor property.
Griffiths escaped jail but was sentenced to a 16-month suspended sentence coupled with a 200-hour community work order. He was also told to pay £1,600 in terms of a fine, costs and a surcharge.
Justin Hugheston-Roberts, mitigating at the city crown court, said Griffiths had intended to move into the property with his girlfriend but after their relationship ended, he returned to live with his mother because his income could not meet the mortgage and other outgoings, and he rented it out.
Receiving £550 a month in rent, he turned a blind eye to cannabis being grown in the property. He wasn’t involved in cultivating the plant or receiving a cut of any profits. However Griffiths was found to have 18 previous convictions for 59 offences including four for possessing cannabis.
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