POLICE officers responding to an incident where a man had been stabbed uncovered a cannabis growing operation in a nearby flat.

Cops had been informed that there was an injured man in an Alexandria street on July 14.

They discovered 41-year-old Lachlan McDiarmid bleeding in Heather Avenue but when they tried to ascertain what had happened to him they found he was unwilling to give the officers any details.

Claire Martin, procurator fiscal depute, told Dumbarton Sheriff Court that the officers followed the trail of McDiarmid’s blood which led them to a nearby flat in the town’s Colquhoun Drive.

Within the property it was noticed that there were a number of fans and the police then applied for and obtained a sheriff’s search warrant.

The fiscal depute revealed that when the officers carried out a search of the property they discovered 17 plants and other growing equipment including lights, plastic trays and soil in an upstairs bedroom. The plants were subsequently removed, sent for further examination and tested positively as cannabis.

The court was also informed that McDiarmid, whose address was given in court papers as Bannachra Crescent, was taken to hospital but on his release attended voluntarily at the police office where he admitted looking after the plants.

He told interviewing officers that the cannabis was for personal use, that he smoked an ounce a day and that each plant could provide between a half-ounce and an ounce of the class B drug.

The fiscal depute continued: “He admitted that the plants had been there since January. When asked what the cost of setting up the operation was, he told them it was about £200 but he had bought a bit at a time.” In his defence, McDiarmid’s solicitor Bert Thomson, told the court: “As far as the plants are concerned they were at different stages of growth. He did this to avoid being in the hands of dealers. He was the victim of a stabbing that very day and as I understand it that was someone trying to take the plants from him.

“The injury he sustained was not an insignificant one.

“The police didn’t go to his house acting on intelligence but it was ‘an accidental find’”.

It was revealed in court that McDiarmid already had a conviction for a similar offence.

Before passing sentence, Sheriff Eric Brown said: “The dates of this offence were at a time when you were on probation for an analogous offence and the courts tend to take a dim view of this type of behaviour.

“However, you had an unfortunate incident where you were stabbed by someone trying to take your cannabis plants.

“I hope you have learned that this is a course of conduct not to be pursued.” The sheriff placed McDiarmid on a community payback order with the conditions that he be supervised for a period of 12 months and carry out 180 hours of unpaid work within that time.