A CANNABIS grower produced his own supply of the class B drug at home to self-medicate due to a stomach condition, Greenock Sheriff Court has heard.

Christopher O'Neill pleaded guilty to cultivating the narcotic at a property on Broadstone Avenue in Port Glasgow during March 2019.

The 30-year-old, who now lives in Newcastle, had also been charged on indictment with bypassing an electricity meter at the same address but prosecutors accepted a not guilty plea to that allegation in January.

O'Neill's solicitor, Gemma Elder, told a sentencing hearing on Wednesday that the first offender was 'self-medicating with cannabis'.

The lawyer said: "He has a stomach problem and as a consequence he finds it particularly difficult to consume prescribed medication.

"He had enquired about a private cannabis prescription but there was a financial barrier to him pursuing such a course of action.

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"He fully concedes that the conduct is wholly unacceptable."

Ms Elder told the court that O'Neill's reason for trying to get around the 'costly exercise' of buying and consuming the drug 'does not offer a defence but some explanation'.

Sheriff Anthony McGeehan said: "I have listened to the context of this offence.

"It is apparent from the circumstances of the offence and the information provided to the court that you have a medical condition and you have apparently made a bad decision and an attempt to self-medicate.

"You should be in no doubt that your decision making was poor and involved the commission of a criminal offence and the court requires to mark that."

As a direct alternative to custody, O'Neill was sentenced to a community payback order with 12 months of social work supervision and a requirement to complete 225 hours of unpaid work within a year.