A man has incurred the wrath of the courts and his unsuspecting mum by openly growing cannabis plants in her house and garden in Inverurie.
Steven McKay turned his mother’s Inverurie flat into a mini cannabis factory, all the while insisting to her that his new-found horticultural hobby was so he could grow vegetables.
But the brazen 29-year-old’s drug operation was rumbled when an eagle-eyed member of the public spotted a potted cannabis plant growing in the garden and swiftly told the police.
Officers investigated and found more plants soaking up the sun on a windowsill inside.
In total, more than £12,000 worth of cannabis was found, prompting a furious reaction from McKay’s shocked mum, who was concerned her grandkids might have touched the plants.
Fiscal depute Kirsty Martin told Aberdeen Sheriff Court a member of the public walked into Inverurie police station during the morning of June 7 2019 and said she thought there was a cannabis plant in the garden of Drimmies House on Provost Circle.
Officers went to investigate and found the plant as described underneath the window of a ground-floor flat.
‘He told me they were all vegetables’
There was also a smell of cannabis and officers noticed two more plants on the inside of the living room windowsill.
McKay allowed the police inside and explained that the flat was his mother’s but accepted that the cannabis belonged to him.
Noticing the plants on the windowsill had moved, officers asked McKay where they were and he eventually revealed he’d hidden them under a jacket in a bin.
Ms Martin said: “The officers requested permission to search the property from the accused’s mother, who freely granted it.
“Once the circumstances were explained to her, she was seen to be shocked.”
The mother asked: “Are they really cannabis? He told me they were all vegetables.
“My grandchildren have been here and they could have touched them.”
The woman started to cry and said McKay was “no longer welcome” in her house.
Asked if she had had any suspicions, she said no, adding: “If you want to search the flat please do as if there are any drugs in my flat I want them out now.”
A search was carried out and various packages of dried cannabis were found, weighing a total of 768.56g worth £12,587.
Six cannabis plants were also discovered with a potential value of up to £4,860.
Seven red MDMA tablets worth £70 were recovered too.
In McKay’s bedroom, the police found various cannabis-growing equipment including three foil tents.
Solicitor blasts ‘unprofessional’ report from social workers
McKay, of Crichie Circle, Port Elphinstone, admitted producing cannabis and possession of ecstasy.
Defence agent John McLeod described a court-ordered criminal justice social work report as a “mess” and an “unprofessional and a potentially dangerous and prejudicial misrepresentation”.
Mr McLeod pointed out that the report included repeated references to his client being concerned in the supply of cannabis, adding: “He did nothing of the sort.
“It’s sloppy and potentially prejudicial to Mr McKay.”
Turning to the correct offence to which McKay had pled guilty, he said: “Bizarrely, he was making no attempt to hide this at all.
“It was spotted by members of the public including gardeners.
“His mum with whom he was staying and who is present in court was horrified and mortified by this and it caused a bit of a fallout between them.”
Mr McLeod said the mother and son had since reconciled and highlighted that he had no previous offences bar a “trivial” traffic matter.
Sheriff David Hall ordered McKay to carry out 160 hours of unpaid work and be supervised for a year.
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