A BUSINESSMAN who created a cannabis farm for his own use has been spared prison.

Sandwich shop owner Daniel Smith, 44, bought hydroponics equipment over the internet and created a drug factory in his home to feed his own addiction.

Paul Becker, prosecuting, told how police raided his house on Gorsey Lane, Litherland, on August 28, last year, and discovered plants in the garage as well as an array of equipment.

An expert later said if Smith’s 64 plants had been properly harvested they could have yielded a crop worth £9,200 up to five times a year.

But Smith was spared prison after Liverpool crown court heard he employed four members of staff at his five-year-old business.

Charles Lander, defending, said: “An immediate custodial sentence will have an impact not only on him, but on those he employs.”

Suspending a 36-week prison sentence for two years, Judge Gerald Clifton said: “You have a business and people depend on you for their livelihood.”

He ordered Smith, who admitted producing and possessing cannabis, to do 150 hours unpaid work in community and pay £250 in costs.