A CANNABIS farmer grew a crop with a street value of £78,000 with plants being cultivated in three bedrooms and on the landing of his home.

Matthew Welsh, 30, was caught just months after he got a suspended sentence for couriering the class B drug between Gwent and West Wales.

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Prosecutor Jenny Yeo told Cardiff Crown Court how officers raided the defendant’s home last summer.

She said: “The police found a significant amount of cannabis.

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“It was being grown in each of the three bedrooms and there was a tent on the landing.

“There were 42 cannabis plants in the bedrooms and 49 seedling plants in the tent.

“They were being well cared for.”

The cannabis had a potential street value of £78,000.

Former hotel manager Welsh, of Y Cilgant, Penyrheol, Caerphilly, pleaded guilty to producing cannabis on June 12, 2020.

Mrs Yeo added that the defendant was handed a suspended jail sentence at Swansea Crown Court in March 2020 for two counts of possessing cannabis with intent to supply.

The court was told Welsh had previous convictions for drink driving and failing to comply with a community order.

Ed Mitchard, representing the defendant, said his client had fully co-operated with the police and admitted the offence at the first opportunity.

The judge, Recorder IWL Jones, told Welsh: “Everything was well cared for.

“You knew what you were doing. Those plants must have been growing there for a while.

“You committed this offence just three months after you had been given an excellent chance at Swansea Crown Court.

“You carried on being involved in this drug.”

The judge jailed the defendant for eight months for producing cannabis and activated his 18-month prison sentence for possessing the class B drug with intent to supply.

The total custodial sentence was 26 months.

Welsh was also ordered to pay a victim surcharge after his release from prison.