AN "UNLUCKY" man who had to call the fire brigade after setting fire to his carpet ended up in court after they also discovered he was growing cannabis at his Kidderminster home.

But Simeon O'Mealy was not growing the class B drug for smoking or selling - he blends the leaves into a juice for drinking.

Mark Soper, prosecuting, said: "He's a bit of an unlucky man really. He set fire to the carpet in his bathroom by a disregarded cigarette end and called the fire brigade. They came and extinguished the fire and noticed a tent which contained the plants."

In mitigation, John Rogers although the 55-year-old had been caught doing something that was illegal in this country, in his home region, the Caribbean, growing cannabis to make juices was a common practice.

He said: "His family are from the Caribbean and over there it's common practice to get the juice from the plants and drink it for medicinal purposes. Once the plants are frown, he puts the leaves in a blender and drinks them. I believe we can buy it from Holland and Barrett here, although it is obviously marked up as something else and has the illegal part taken out.

"But, the offence he is pleading guilty to is growing it - the police were quite happy he wasn't smoking it; police were quite happy he wasn't selling it, and the reason he drinks it is because he was diagnosed with liver cancer a while ago."

O'Mealy, of Longfellow Green, Kidderminster, pleaded guilty to producing a controlled drug of class B when he appeared at Kidderminster Magistrates' Court on Thursday, August 13.

Chairman of the magistrates Jill Gramann warned the defendant about following the rules of the country he is in and no those of his homeland.

She fined O'Mealy £100 and ordered him to pay £180 in court charges, £85 in prosecution costs, and a £20 victim surcharge.