A MAN fed-up with the prices dealers were charging him for cannabis made his own 'inept' attempt to grow the drug, a court has heard.Police raided the home of 33-year-old Oliver Nalis, in Gipsy Lane, Frostenden, near Beccles, on January 6 and found nine mature cannabis plants growing in a bedroom.

A MAN fed-up with the prices dealers were charging him for cannabis made his own 'inept' attempt to grow the drug, a court has heard.

Police raided the home of 33-year-old Oliver Nalis, in Gipsy Lane, Frostenden, near Beccles, on January 6 and found nine mature cannabis plants growing in a bedroom.

However, he had not grown them properly, meaning his project cost him more than if he had bought the drugs from dealers, Lowestoft Magistrates' Court was told yesterday (Tuesday).

Mitzy Bond, prosecuting, said the bedroom also contained equipment used to grow drugs and that Nalis had tampered with his electricity meter, meaning he was using energy without paying for it. Mrs Bond added there was no evidence Nalis was producing the drug for anyone else.

Nalis pleaded guilty to producing cannabis, possessing 5g of herbal cannabis and abstracting electricity without authority.

Magistrates sentenced him to carry out 200 hours of unpaid community work and ordered him to pay �43 costs.

Calvin Saker, for Nalis, said: 'He was fed-up with the high prices dealers were asking and felt he was being ripped off. He spent a lot of time and money trying to set up something that was a pretty inept effort.

'The plants were not growing correctly. They cost a lot of money to produce - far more than he would have had to pay for the drugs in the first place.'

The court heard Nalis had now stopped using cannabis. Mr Saker added that he had not taken a large amount of electricity.