A cannabis farming mum hoarding 30 plants inside a “huge tent” after racking up an £11,000 water bill has avoided jail.

Susan Deniz-Kiran was discovered with the £18,000-£30,000 haul cultivating inside her Folkestone flat alongside a kilo of dried cannabis.

Criminals persuaded the mother-of-two to house the sophisticated farm after she became overwhelmed with debt collectors, Canterbury Crown Court heard.

Deniz-Kiran’s ex-partner coerced her into cultivating the Class B drug, convincing her she couldn’t get in trouble, the court was told.

The 54-year-old told Judge Mark Weekes: “He said he could get some people to help me. After a few days, he came up with two men.

"They went into my spare bedroom, came out, introduced them to me and he said the men can help me.

“They said every other house does it and you can’t get in trouble for less than 50 plants."

“Being arrested and having the case hanging over her is punishment enough...”

The trio convinced Deniz-Kiran, who the court deems “vulnerable”, that “every other house” grew the drug and the tent would be modest in size.

But when the gang finished rigging the hydroponic farm it consumed the whole of her spare room, she added.

They forced her at times to garden the farm, promising it “would only take a few weeks”, the court heard.

But when the set-up remained for five months and she requested the gang to remove it, they refused.

The grandmother-to-be, of Bouverie Road West, said she didn’t receive any money from the harvest last year.

But prosecutor Rio Pahlavanpour argued paraphernalia such as airspray, a fan and broom, purchased by Deniz-Kiran indicated she was complicit.

But Judge Weekes was convinced Deniz-Kiran, had been coerced. He said: “Her account was realistic, she was open and frank and she was honest in the sense that she indicated to me she was unhappy with this and knew she was doing wrong.”

He ordered Deniz-Kiran to complete 15 rehabilitation activity days during a two-year community order.

Judge Weekes added: “Being arrested and having the case hanging over her is punishment enough.”

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