A MAN who grew cannabis to wean himself off heroin escaped a prison sentence yesterday.

Harrogate magistrates heard how the owner of Aidan Flood's home, in Chatsworth Grove, Harrogate, called police after his suspicions were aroused by what he found in his cellar.

Prosecutor Michael Hammond said that an investigation showed plants up to 2ft high and seedlings were all cannabis, which Flood, 35, was nurturing with heat lamps, plant food and a spray.

He said Flood readily admitted cannabis cultivation but had then gone on the run for three months before handing himself in at Harrogate police station.

When Flood pleaded guilty to drug cultivation and failing to answer bail, court chairman John Render told him his record - including three convictions for drugs possession - was not good and consideration had been given to a prison sentence.

Instead Flood, now of Grove Park Terrace, Harrogate, was put on probation for two years, fined £50 and ordered to pay £70 costs.