A MAN who was growing drugs with stolen electricity has been jailed.
Newport Crown Court heard police officers raided an address in Caerphilly where Nicholas Smith, 47, was cultivating cannabis plants.
He had bypassed the power supply to steal £1,770 worth of electricity from SSE to grow his crop.
Smith, of Commercial Street, Senghenydd pleaded guilty to being concerned in the production of a class B drug.
The defendant also admitted abstracting electricity without authority, an offence under the Theft Act 1968.
Nicholas Smith
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His offending took place in October 2022.
Smith has a previous conviction for a similar offence for which he was handed a suspended sentence three years ago.
The judge, Recorder Celia Hughes, jailed him for 12 months for being concerned in the production of cannabis and eight months for abstracting electricity.
The sentences will run concurrently which means Smith was sent to prison for 12 months of which he will serve half before being released on licence.
He got an extra shock when he was ordered to pay SSE £1,770 in compensation within 24 months.
The defendant will also have to pay a statutory £187 victim surcharge after his release from custody.
Recorder Hughes ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the cannabis.
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