A man who was caught with 145 cannabis plants in his bedroom is facing a jail sentence.

Kevin Roache, 54, of Middlesbrough, told a jury that he slept in another bedroom and he did not know the 3ft high plants were there.

He said that he let two men he met in a pub use it as a storeroom, and had not been inside the room for six months.

Middlesbrough drugs squad officers who smashed down the front door of his flat in Hazel Court, Middlesbrough, said that the sickly sweet smell from the plants was overpowering.

The jury at Teesside Crown Court took just five minutes to convict him of permitting premises to be used on May 4 for producing a controlled drug.

Peter Johnson, prosecuting, who referred to Roache's home as Middlesbrough's Kew Gardens, said that it was a well organised cannabis farm with a 40-gallon water butt and specialist lighting and heating.

The judge, Recorder Simon Wood, ordered the destruction of the plants and equipment. He remanded Roache on bail for pre-sentence reports saying that he was facing jail