Former Tennent’s Lager can model caught with £12,500 cannabis factory in her flat

 Sentence: Karen Thomson first used cannabis for pain relief, a court heard

A former beer can model caught with a £12,500 cannabis factory in her flat 'brought shame on herself and her family'.
Karen Thomson was held after police probed a suspected break-in at her home in Dowanhill, Glasgow in May 2013.
Officers then found 52 cannabis plants, scales and thermometers in a bedroom rigged up with high-pressure lighting.
The ex-model returned to Glasgow Sheriff Court after she earlier pleaded guilty to supplying the drug.
Her lawyer told how Thomson, 52, had first used cannabis for pain relief, reports the Daily Record.

 

Guilty: Thomson admitted supplying the drug during an appearance at Glasgow Sheriff Court

Sheriff Daniel Scullion said the crime merited a jail term but instead ordered the mum, who now works as a landscape gardener, to carry out 300 hours of unpaid work.
Scullion also told Thomson she must stay at home between 7.30pm and 5am for the next 100 days. It effectively means she will be tagged during that time.
The court previously heard how police were sent to Thomson’s home in May 2013 after an anonymous tip-off that there had been a break-in.
A second call then claimed cannabis plants could be seen in a window. The basement flat was then searched after a warrant was granted.
The court heard it soon became apparent that a room had been given over to a cannabi cultivation.
Prosecutor Niall MacDonald said: “It amounted to 52 plants. These plants were contained in three growing tents.”
He said there was equipment to optimise growing conditions, including high-pressure lighting, a ventilation system and growing nutrients.

 

Find: The basement flat was searched after a warrant was granted and the cannabis factory was discovered

The court heard scales, thermometers and plastic bags with a cannabis motif on them were also seized.
MacDonald said the plants had a potential value of £12,400.
The prosecutor said it was accepted Thomson first supplied the drugs to people she knew.
But, he added: “That developed beyond what would be called social supply to commercial supply to people outwith her immediate social circle.”
Thomson was one of the Tennent’s can girls from 1988 to 1991, with her face and figure on billboards across Scotland.
Her lawyer said cannabis had originally acted as a pain relief for Thomson following a serious accident.
Bobby McCormack, defending, added: “She knows this has brought shame on her and her family.”
Thomson pleaded guilty to supplying the drug between October 2012 and May 2013.
Her sons Joshua 19 and Jefferson 22 had also faced the same charge, but their not guilty pleas were accepted.
All three denied producing cannabis, which was also accepted by prosecutors.