A MAN has been ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work for growing 25 cannabis plants after appearing at Alloa Sheriff Court last week.

Thomas Jackson incurred the wrath of the courts after he told his criminal justice social worker that he had no intention of stopping the cultivation.

However, the 55-year-old's lawyer, Robert Smith, told the court last Thursday that Jackson, of Kennet Village, had in fact stopped growing and using cannabis.

Mr Smith added that his client "accepts cultivating 25 plants but that some were of no value as they were so small".

The defence agent continued: "He has no analogous convictions and is in long-term employment with a good wage."

Jackson's plants were uncovered on April 13 last year.

In sentencing, Sheriff David Mackie told him: "The court has to treat this seriously. It was a well-planned crime.

"We do not get involved in the discussion about the merits of cannabis."

He was ordered to complete 120 hours of unpaid work in 12 months.