A man who claimed he was kidnapped and forced into turning his rented home into a cannabis factory has been jailed for two years for possession of a firearm.

William Cairns, 53, of Richmond Road in Ramsgate, recounted his story of kidnap, torture and escape at Canterbury Crown Court after pleading guilty to possessing the illegal revolver.

Louis French, defending, said that Cairns had hired three contractors to replace the floorboards at his previous address, an isolated farm house in Alkham, near Dover.

But when the men produced an £11,000 bill for the work, Cairns said he couldn't pay and the contractors subsequently kidnapped him, beat him and forced him to water the cannabis plants until he had paid off the bill.

"When he had said he couldn't pay…the kidnappers started to beat him and he was subjected to serious violence," said Mr French. Cairns later managed to escape through a coal chute and hid in bushes before contacting family members.

Mr French claimed that Cairns later returned to the farmhouse but could see some of his furniture had been smashed or stolen.

It was then, said Mr French, that a member of his family gave him the firearm. Cairns said he didn't ask for the weapon but had been "very, very frightened after receiving the beatings and the severe threats of more violence."

Mr French added: "He had been in a terrible state after being subjected to torture."

Cairns then contacted a local solicitor who had advised him to report the alleged incidents to the police.

In June, he walked into Dover police station to report being kidnapped and attacked, and told officers that there was a gun under the driver's seat of his car parked outside. A loaded Webley 45 was recovered but the six bullets were inert.

Prosecutor Denzil Pugh said Cairns had rented the farmhouse in 2006, but the property's owners later noticed it appeared to have been broken into.

In May, the police were called and officers discovered the cannabis factory in the basement - but Cairns had gone missing.

The court heard two men were later arrested in connection with the discovery but no-one has so far been charged with attacks or the cultivation of cannabis.

Judge Adele Williams jailed Cairns for two years for possession of an illegal firearm, and said she found there were exceptional circumstances in the case which allowed her to pass a sentence less that the recommended five years.

Judge Williams said Cairns told police he had the gun to either kidnap one of the men, for self-protection or to kill himself.

"You said this because you didn't want to say it was a relative who gave you the gun," she said. She went on to say it was a matter of the "gravest concern" that the gun had been obtained with apparent ease.