Cannabis pensioner escapes jail

A pensioner yeterday escaped jail for growing cannabis to ease his arthritis after he vowed to stop producing the drug.

Leslie Williams, 73, built a greenhouse to grow the drug in the bedroom of his house in Runcorn, Cheshire.

He was given a two-year conditional discharge at Warrington Crown Court and ordered to pay £192 costs from his state pension. Judge David Hale warned him he would face serious consequences if he was caught with cannabis again, and told him: “Never be so stupid again.”