A Stroud man who grew nearly £14,000 worth of cannabis at his home would have smoked it all in about a year because he had such a heavy habit, a court heard today.

At Gloucester Crown Court Joseph Critchley, 31, of Marling Crescent, Stroud, was given a 12 month suspended jail term after he admitted cultivating 54 cannabis plants.

He was also placed on a six-month home curfew from 7pm to 7am each night and ordered to pay £350 costs.

Prosecutor Rosie Walsh said police raided Critchley's home on May 6 this year and found that he had converted a bedroom and an attic into growing rooms.

"There was heating equipment, growing chemicals and insulation," she said.

"There were 54 cannabis plants with a potential yield of nearly £14,000. In interview Mr Critchley accepted responsibility for the drugs and maintained he was growing for personal use."

Ms Walsh said the Crown did not contest the basis of Critchley's plea and therefore accepted that the cannabis yield from the plants would have been for his own use.

Jon Holmes, defending, did not oppose the forfeiture and confiscation of the plants or of £1,165 in cash seized from Critchley.

Recorder Henry Barnes told the solicitor that he had read references written to the court on Critchley's behalf by people including his parents.

"Because of the Crown accepting that this was all for his own use, despite the quantity involved, I think I am just able to make a suspended sentence order with a curfew requirement," said the Recorder.

Mr Holmes said: "Looking at the amount he smokes the value of the crop would be about what he spent on smoking during the year. He had a very heavy habit."

Sentencing Critchley, the Recorder told him: "You were growing cannabis on a substantial scale in rented accommodation. Two rooms in the premises were dedicated to growing the drug.

"There is a substantial problem in the country at the moment, as has been pointed out by the Court of Appeal, with far too much of this cannabis being grown.

"It is not a harmless drug, as you probably well know, as people sometimes say it is, particularly the stronger varieties.

"I have read a number of references and you plainly have a lot of good about you. There is a particularly moving reference from your parents and I am impressed by the fact that since your arrest you have been seeking voluntary help at an acupuncture centre with your cannabis habit and for four months you have managed to clean yourself of it."