A CANNABIS farmer who grew 6ft tall plants in his living room and who was caught after a tip-off to the police has been jailed.

Gareth Williams was cultivating drugs that could have made 17,200 joints and which had a potential street value of £20,000, prosecutor Jenny Yeo said.

The 28-year-old grew 24 plants which were 6ft tall and 36 plants that stood at 3ft tall in his Caerphilly home.

Mrs Yeo told Cardiff Crown Court how officers could see the crop through the windows of the flat just before they raided it.

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The potential yield was estimated at 4.3kg and police were informed about the defendant’s operation by a member of the public.

Williams, of Bryn Glas, Penyrheol, pleaded guilty to the production of cannabis. The offence was committed on March 15.

Cannabis seized from Gareth Williams' flat. Picture: CPS

Mrs Yeo said the defendant had 14 previous convictions for 23 offences and added: “He has a history of failing to abide with court orders.”

The court heard his only previous drugs conviction was for possessing a class B drug of amphetamine in 2018.

The prosecution said it did not wish to peruse the case to a Proceeds of Crime Act hearing.

Ed Mitchard, mitigating, said: “The defendant was a user of cannabis and would have used some of it but accepts he would have sold on some of it within the community.”

His lawyer told the judge Williams was a fire stopper and had worked on the new £350 million Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran.

Mr Mitchard added that many of his client’s previous convictions were for alcohol related and public order offences.

He said: “As a result of this conviction, the defendant lost his flat and was living with his family.

“I would ask the court to give full credit for his guilty plea.”

Judge David Wynn Morgan told Williams: “This was a semi-commercial operation and was quite sophisticated.”

He jailed him for 18 months and ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the cannabis.

The defendant must pay a victim surcharge upon his release from prison.