A music promoter who grew and sold cannabis was caught by chance when he was stopped for speeding on his way to a Halloween party.
Damon Mayes had 14 plants growing in a loft of his home in Newton Abbot which could only be accessed through a trap door hidden inside a cupboard.
He also had bags of harvested cannabis which contained more than £4,000 worth of the drug and £960 cash in his car and home.
Mayes was found with more than £3,500 worth of cocaine, LSD, ecstasy and dance drugs hidden in a tin with a false bottom but was cleared of dealing these drugs at a trial at Exeter in September at which he claimed they were for his own use.
He was investigated when his Vauxhall Astra was stopped for speeding on Western Way, Exeter, as he headed for a Halloween event at the Phoenix Centre in 2014.
Stonemason Mayes, aged 28, of Queen Street, Newton Abbot, admitted production of cannabis and possession with intent to supply. He also admitted simple possession of four other drugs.
He was jailed for two years, suspended for two years, and ordered to do 250 hours unpaid community work by Recorder Mr Rufus Taylor at Exeter Crown Court.
He told him: ’This is your last chance. If you return to your drug taking ways and your drug supplying ways you will be sent immediately to custody.’
Mr Jonathan Barnes, prosecuting, said Mayes was stopped on Western Way and police found a black pouch containing cannabis wraps and a grinder in the car.
They found the rest of the drugs and money when his home was searched. The growing cannabis was found in a hidden loft space.
Miss Pamela Calder, mitigating, said Mayes has turned his life around in the two years since his arrest. He has given up drugs and started receiving professional help for the mental health issues which led him to take them.
She said he had only sold drugs to friend who were existing users or swapped them for other substances which he was using at the time.