A CANNABIS user led police to discover his homegrown crop after he was stopped by police while driving "stoned" in his car.
James Eames had begun growing his own drugs in his garage to try to save on the cost of paying a dealer to feed his £100-a-week habit.
But police sprung his money-saving enterprise last month after they arrested him "stoned" on cannabis in his girlfriend's BMW.
By chance, officers had been scouring the streets of Mansfield for a stolen BMW.
They saw Eames, a banned driver, behind the wheel of a BMW in Stockwell Gate and decided to pull him over.
When he stopped, he ran away, Nottingham Crown Court heard.
Officers warned him if he continued to run, they would have to use a police dog to capture him.
Eames still failed to stop, so a dog was used to detain him.
The 27-year-old, of Bramling Close, Mansfield, then refused to be breathalysed.
Katrina Wilson, prosecuting, said: "He gave the explanation he had a dry mouth and was stoned on cannabis."
Police searched his home and discovered 15 plants at various stages of development.
Eames pleaded guilty to driving whilst disqualified, driving without insurance, failing to provide a specimen of breath, taking the BMW without consent from his girlfriend, producing and possessing cannabis.
Judge Andrew Hamilton gave him a total of 12 months in custody, suspended for two years, and disqualified him from driving for 12 months.
Eames will be supervised by the Probation Service for two years and be subject to a three-month curfew between 7pm and 7am.
"You will suffer hardship," the judge told him. "You will be indoors for Christmas.
"I call it home imprisonment, so effectively you are serving part of your sentence being tagged.
"At least it's your own bedroom door you are closing...rather than a cell door."
Fiona Tannock said, in mitigation, the driving offences smacked of stupidity.
Eames had smoked cannabis since he was a teenager and his usage increased after he was seriously assaulted, she said.
He was out of work and claiming Employment Support Allowance but was smoking ten cannabis cigarettes a day, the court heard.
