A 50-year-old man has been given a suspended jail sentence after admitting selling cannabis from his Droitwich home.

Police raided Paul Cotterill’s home and found the drugs in four carrier bags and three smaller bags along with a set of scales, some cling film and an ice cream box containing plastic wraps.

At Worcester Magistrates Court, Cotterill admitted possessing a class B drug with intent to supply.

Louise Mead, prosecuting, said the drugs found at about 9.10am on Thursday, November 3, were later identified as cannabis bush.

She said he told police officers he had bought the drugs for £3,000 the previous evening from a man who drove around the Westlands estate in a Mercedes Sprinter van.

He said he intended to sell the drug for £65 an ounce or £10 for a wrap to pay off his own drug debts.

Cotterill, of Woodman’s Rise, said he was now £4,000 in debt and admitted he had been selling the drugs from his home for three weeks and for longer from a different address.

Andy Childs, defending, said Cotterill had been in trouble in his younger years and had led a difficult life.

He said: “He has suffered a high level of physical pain since a very serious injury to his neck.

“His wife has had a difficult time with her health.

“It has led to unemployment, a low income and a drift into crime through smoking cannabis.

“He viewed it as a way out of the pain.”

Mr Childs said: “He was given a batch of drugs and he would sell them on and the profit would go back to the dealer.

“It is the little man who appears in court and not the man behind him.”

Magistrates sentenced him to eight weeks in custody suspended for 12 months.

He was also told he must adhere to an electronically monitored curfew between the hours of 5pm and 5am for three months and pay £85 costs.