A LINDFORD man has been found guilty of possession of cannabis, criminal damage and stealing electricity after police executed a search warrant and found 32 cannabis plants at a property in Lindford Wey. At the home of Leigh Scott-Darling, on Wednesday, September 19, police found that the defendant had damaged walls to install ventilation units, and had fixed wires to bypass the electricity meter in order to power the special lighting needed to grow cannabis. Scott-Darling appeared in front of Aldershot magistrates last Friday, charged with all three offences. In his defence, the court heard that Scott-Darling suffers from Hepatitis C, and finds that cannabis can help ease the symptoms of the condition. It was also said that the growing of the cannabis was all self-contained, and neither Scott-Darling nor his partner had any intention of selling it. Only nine of the 32 plants had been cultivated. The defendant and his partner have lived at the property, which belongs to the Housing Association, for over three years. The damage to the walls was estimated to cost £5,000, but Scott-Darling is taking steps to have the wall repaired, and produced a receipt that showed he had recently purchased plaster and sand cement. The property is now fitted with a pre-pay electricity meter, which allows the defendant to pay off the £900, owed to the electricity board, in instalments. In sentencing Scott-Darling, magistrate Mr Jenkins said: "We have listened very carefully to both the prosecution and defence this morning, and we are satisfied that you use cannabis heavily and this was a joint venture between you and your partner. "We are satisfied that you had no intention of selling the cannabis on. However, what you did is against the law, and the use of lighting and ventilation units is a serious offence. "The abstraction of electricity is also a very serious offence, and the totality of the crimes committed mean that we will give you a community order." Scott-Darling was given three concurrent curfew orders, with two eight-week curfews for the criminal damage and abstraction of electricity and a four-week curfew for the possession of cannabis. The three curfews will run at the same time. Due to Scott Darling's early guilty plea and his financial situation, no court's costs or compensations costs were ordered. He will, however, continue to retrospectively pay off the debt owed to the electricity board. Following a visit from a monitoring agency, Scott Darling will be fitted with an electronic tag, and will have to stay at home from the hours of 7pm until 7am. The home will be fitted with a sight unit and a telephone, to ensure Scott-Darling obeys the curfew orders. Whitehill Safer Neighbourhoods Sergeant Phil Shore said: "The warrant executed at Lindford Wey was as a result of our local officers and Safer Neighbourhoods teams working closely with the local community. This is all part of our commitment to deal with crime and disorder issues and target those involved in the use of controlled drugs. "We will not tolerate this kind of behaviour in our communities and hope this sends out a strong message to the community that we will execute warrants as soon as we have the right intelligence to do so.  "A lot of work is being done to rid the area of those who are involved in drugs and we rely on the community to assist us in doing this. "I would urge anyone who has any information about drugs activity in the area to contact their local Safer Neighbourhoods team on 0845 0454545 or give information anonymously to Crimestoppers on 0800 555111." The plants were forfeited and destroyed.