Disabled Hucknall man grew £10,000 of cannabis for pain relief after benefits wrongly cut

Police confronted Craig Goddard at his supported accommodation on Caddaw Avenue, on April 5, after the smell of cannabis triggered suspicion, said prosecutor Peter Bettany.

He showed them to his bedroom where 17 plants were hanging up to dry.

The cannabis was valued at £10,000 if it was sold on the street, Mr Bettany said.

Goddard immediately admitted growing the plants for his own use and said he spent £500 on growing equipment.

Sarah Roberts, mitigating, said the defendant’s leg had been amputated just above the knee in 2015.

He contracted MRSA when he was being operated on in hospital following a motorcycle accident in 2001, and his condition had deteriorated over the years.

She said Goddard used the drug for medicinal purposes as he suffered from “phantom pain” – a clinical phenomenon in which painful sensations seem to be coming from the part of the limb that is no longer there.

He made the “stupid decision” to start growing the drug three months earlier after his Personal Independence Payments and mobility allowance were incorrectly assessed.

"He didn’t know where he stood with his benefits,” Ms Roberts told the court. “He hadn’t done it before and didn’t expect that sort of yield.”

He was unable to attend an earlier hearing because of a suspected stroke, she added.

Goddard, 41, was fined £200 with a £34 surcharge and £85 court costs, when he appeared at Nottingham Magistrates Court, on Friday.

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