A cannabis grower who argued his £7k drug stash and “sophisticated hydroponic farm” were to help him combat using cocaine has avoided jail.

Officers discovered sacks full of the cultivated Class B drug, alongside 18 plants, at Hayden Cock’s Dover home in January 2021.

The complex system of strip lights, ventilators and waterways would have allowed the 37-year-old to yield up to £26,000 worth, a court heard.

The labourer was handed a suspended prison sentence at Canterbury Crown Court on Wednesday.

Following his arrest, Cock said the operation - complete with 500g of cultivated cannabis worth £7k - was designed to help combat a long-term cocaine addiction.

By chance, police uncovered the farm housed inside a tent in a bedroom in Droveway, St Margaret's Bay, while attending for a separate matter, prosecutors said.

“In the (police) interview the defendant explained he is a recovering cocaine addict and grew the cannabis for his own use,” Caroline Knight, prosecuting said.

Cock explained he shared small amounts with friends but was not a dealer, she continued.

“There was a grow tent, hot lamps, watered through a watering system, ventilated, all of which to assist their healthy growth,” Ms Knight added.

And police seized two bags, each containing roughly 250g of cultivated cannabis, from the property.

Prosecutors “accepted” Cock’s explanation and offered no evidence on a further charge of acquiring criminal property, Ms Knight said.

It related to £1,350 cash also seized from the property, which remains confiscated.

Cock kick-started the operation in a bid to overcome a destructive cocaine habit, of which he remains clean, his lawyers said.

And now his mother, who supported Cock in the public gallery, requires him to undergo routine drug testing while he stays at the family home and straightens his act.

Since his arrest, Cock has been working to rebuild his relationship with his partner, who wrote a letter to the court voicing her support.

Cock’s employer, Deal-based Steel AV, also handed the court a letter pertaining to his good nature and work ethic.

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“He works hard, he is well thought of, he is doing well to be in a position to provide for his partner and child in due course,” Phil Rowley mitigating said.

Handing down nine months suspended for a year and a half, the judge, recorder Duncan Atkinson QC, labelled the cannabis farm a “sophisticated cultivation operation.”

“In your interview you accepted you were responsible for this operation but explained you were seeking to grow cannabis as part of your attempts to recover from cocaine.

“That is an account the prosecution has accepted,” he continued.

He ordered the plants to be destroyed and for Cock to pay £300 towards court costs.