A MAN who cultivated cannabis plants to ease his wife's arthritis escaped punishment at Teesside Crown Court yesterday.

But the judge warned him that if he is ever caught doing it again, he will almost certainly be sent to prison.

Malcolm Jennison, 52, was caught by police when they raided his home in Stokesley Road, Middlesbrough, last December. They found him carrying cannabis plants from a partitioned area of the garage and immediately confessed to growing them.

Defending him, Robert Galley told the court that former nurse Jennison, who was cautioned for the same offence in January 1999, had genuinely sought to ease his wife's suffering.

He said: "His wife suffers from spondilitis and is registered disabled as a result of chronic problems with her back and limbs. As an experiment, he began with small amounts of cannabis infused into cakes or tea.

"He hadn't realised the potential for the matter being taken so seriously."

Mr Galley said that while there have been debates over the possibility of legalising cannabis use, Jennison accepted that it was against the law.

He said: "His wife needs 24-hour care and, to some extent, he is doing a form of community work in that he takes full-time care of her."

Giving Jennison a two-year conditional discharge, Judge Tony Briggs ordered the destruction of high wattage lamps and other equipment used by Jennison for growing the drug.