A convicted drug dealer who operated a cannabis factory from his Maidstone home has been ordered to pay back nearly £20,000.

Steven Miller faces a further 15 months in prison if he fails to comply with a court ruling, which allows police to claw back assets gained from criminal activities.

The 52-year-old was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison in September 2014, after pleading guilty to cultivating cannabis at his Brewer Street home.

Miller had converted the basement and a bedroom to house five grow tents. Officers seized £1,650 in cash and a stun gun from the property.

He was jailed after also admitting further counts of possession with intent to supply cannabis, abstraction of electricity and to possessing a Taser weapon.

On Monday a confiscation hearing under the Proceeds of Crime Act was held at Maidstone Crown Court.

Judge Jeremy Carey ruled Miller had benefited to the sum of £120,525, from criminal activity stretching back over six years.

“Miller continues to serve a prison sentence for his offending and is now also going to have everything he owns taken off him" - Det Isnp Kevin Barton

Miller was told he currently had assets worth £19,185 and that he would have to pay this asset figure within three months.

Failure to pay the full amount will mean he has to serve a further 15 months in prison on the end of his current sentence.

Even if Miller doesn’t pay and serves the additional jail sentence, when he is released enforcement officers will continue to pursue him for the outstanding money.

Det Insp Kevin Barton, of the Kent Police serious economic crime unit, said: “Miller continues to serve a prison sentence for his offending and is now also going to have everything he owns taken off him.

“The Proceeds of Crime Act continues to be an effective tool to ensure that crime doesn’t pay. It often has a bigger impact on criminals than the prison term itself and ensures that offenders leave the justice system without ever benefiting from the crimes they commit.”