A FARMER who smoked cannabis which he grew in his attic to ease chronic back pain escaped a prison sentence yesterday.

Police discovered dozens of cannabis plants and nine bags of skunk cannabis valued at £3,500 plus heat lamps and other paraphernalia during a search of Frederick Watson's home, a court heard.

Watson, 56, of Beaconfield Farm, Sedgefield, County Durham, told police he smoked a "couple of joints" a night and had been growing the plants for two years after seeing programmes on TV about its medicinal properties.

He admitted cultivating and supplying cannabis.

Roy Mitchell, mitigating, said his client had been diagnosed with back problems in 1997 and the only way to alleviate the pain would be to have a potentially high risk operation.

Mr Mitchell said Watson, the sole carer for two young daughters, only sold cannabis once, on the understanding it was to help a Multiple Sclerosis sufferer.

Recorder Alaric Dalziel told Watson: "You have poor health which you have courageously worked through from dawn till dusk. I am fairly confident you have learned your lesson."

He sentenced Watson to an 18-month community rehabilitation order on each of the charges. He said he would not order him to pay costs because of the foot-and-mouth crisis.

l Police in Brixton will pilot a radical new policy to target their resources on the fight against harder drugs such as crack cocaine. When officers find drug-users with a small amount of cannabis they will issue an on-the-spot warning and confiscate the drugs but the matter will go no further.