A MAN was caught growing 48 cannabis plants in his bedroom.

Christopher Ryan, 45, from Caerphilly maintained after his arrest he was cultivating the crop, with a potential street value of £31,680, for his own personal use.

But that claim was rubbished by the Crown Prosecution Service.

Ryan had also bypassed the electricity supply at his home in Abertridwr to power the equipment used to grow the plants.

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Cardiff Crown Court heard how Gwent Police had botched the investigation.

Despite catching the convicted drug dealer red-handed on April 13, 2022, officers released him without charge.

South Wales Argus: Ryan had heaters, fans, timers, lights and a watering system to grow the cannabis. Picture: CPS Wales

It staggeringly took them nearly a year to decide to charge him – and then by post – and he wasn’t summoned to court until March 2023.

By that time Ryan had been kicked out of his Bryn Aber home after losing the tenancy because of the cannabis plants being found there.

The charging letter was sent to this address where he no longer lived leaving the defendant with absolutely no idea he had been charged.

Magistrates issued a warrant for his arrest when he didn't turn up at court.

Ryan surrendered himself earlier this year when he found out the police were looking for him, his lawyer Ed Mitchard told Cardiff Crown Court.

Gareth James, prosecuting, said: “On April 13, 2022, police discovered one of the bedrooms in the property had been given over to the cultivation production.

“It was fully kitted out with foil, heaters, fans, timers, lights, a watering system, the usual type of equipment that one would expect to find if someone was producing cannabis.

“There were 20 adult plants and 28 juvenile plants.”

Ryan, now of Castle Street, Caerphilly, pleaded guilty to producing cannabis and using/abstracting electricity without authority.

He has 16 previous convictions for 24 offences.

The defendant was jailed in 2013 for supplying class A drugs and was more recently prosecuted in the Netherlands for having an ecstasy tablet at a music festival in Amsterdam.

Mr Mitchard said in mitigation that his client has a job and works for JR Industries.

The defendant is also paying back the £961.94 he owes to the energy supplier after he had bypassed the electricity.

The judge, Recorder Alun Eynon-Evans, jailed Ryan for 18 months but suspended the sentence for two years.

He was ordered to carry out 100 hours of unpaid work and complete a 10-day rehabilitation activity requirement.

The court ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the cannabis.