A builder has been caught with cannabis worth £150,000 stashed inside a shed at the bottom of his garden.

Craig Wharton, of Ashford, was discovered with the haul shortly after narrowly dodging prison for an almost identical crime.

Alongside 15kg of the Class B drug, police seized nine iPhones and £8,000 of ill-gotten cash.

The 36-year-old was sentenced to three-and-a-half years in prison at Canterbury Crown Court on Friday.

The court heard Wharton was away when police raided his home in Pound Lane, Kingsnorth, in the early hours of November 7.

Cannabis with a street value of £150,000, alongside drug-dealing paraphernalia, was discovered inside the outbuilding, igniting a police manhunt.

Kent Police would spot the father-of-three a week later in a car, as he tried throwing a quantity of cannabis outside the passenger window.

Following his arrest, Wharton gave a no-comment police interview, but later pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply a Class B drug and possession of criminal property.

Prosecutor Caroline Knight said on Friday Wharton was serving a suspended prison sentence at the time of his arrest, having previously been caught dealing 1.5kg of cannabis.

“When officers searched sheds at the bottom of the garden a substantial amount, some 15kg of cannabis, was found,” she explained.

Wharton, who appeared visibly anxious in the dock on Friday, lost his job as a building supervisor in Rye following the raid, the court heard.

His partner, who was employed by the same firm, was also made unemployed.

John Barker, mitigating, said drug dealers pressured Wharton into selling the contraband after police seized his previous haul.

And he argued eight of the nine iPhones discovered inside Wharton’s property were “just old phones in a drawer” and not for drug-dealing purposes.

Handing down a three-and-a-half year sentence, Judge Simon James told Wharton he had a “history of being involved in the sales of cannabis.”

“You were in possession of 15kg of cannabis on this occasion and candidly admitted to being involved in the sale of drugs again.”

Investigating officer DS Dean Sycamore said: "Craig Wharton was involved in the supply of cannabis on a commercial scale and kept a wealth of incriminating evidence at his home address.

"He should have used the opportunity to turn his life around when he previously received a suspended prison sentence, but instead he continued to offend and will now serve a period of time behind bars."