Gary Hemphill, who lives in Miller Road, made the admission while he was being spoken to by the cops on June 30 this year.

When the 32-year-old appeared for sentencing, Dumbarton Sheriff Court heard that Hemphill, who has learning difficulties, was coerced into keeping the plants by someone else.

Fiscal depute Isobel Martin outlined the circumstances to the court.

She said: “It was 8.15pm and the police saw the accused in Balloch Road and stopped their vehicle to speak to him in relation to an unrelated matter. He seemed agitated and broke down and cried.

“When he started to cry he said to them that he had ‘done something wrong’, and that there were cannabis plants in his house. He continued to cry and looked very frightened.” Hemphill then volunteered to take the police officers back to his house where they found 18 cannabis plants and a hydroponics system. The plants and the equipment were seized by the officers but they had to request and appropriate adult to attend before Hemphill could be cautioned and charged as he would have had difficulty understanding the nature of the charges or caution.

The fiscal depute revealed that each plant could have produced between £100 and £300 of the class B drug.

Referring to a criminal justice social work report prepared for the court, Sheriff Gerard MacMillan told Hemphill: “The crime you have pled guilty to is very serious, do you understand?

“I have read a very full report on you, you are a very vulnerable adult and someone is taking advantage of you.

“People that get involved in this sort of crime normally end up in prison for a considerable period of time.” The sheriff deferred sentence for a year to allow Hemphill to be of good behaviour.