Firemen called to a blaze at a house in Plaiters Way, Houghton Regis discovered the fire had been started by a cannabis factory using illegally abstracted electricity, a court as heard.
The man responsible, Aston Knight, had saved his wife and young child from the property, where two bedrooms had been used for growing cannabis plants.
Knight, 26, had started growing the plants to feed his own habit after he became unemployed, he later told police. He said a friend had by- passed the electricity meter.
But Judge Barbara Mensah had harsh words for the young father telling him: “This was illegal, irresponsible and dangerous. You exposed your partner and child to potential death if the fire had caught hold.”
She said she had seen glowing references of his previous work with the Prince’s Trust. “What an astonishing fall from grace this is.”
Knight, who has been re homed in a hostel following the blaze on May 20 this year, pleaded guilty to cultivating cannabis and abstracting electricity.
On Friday at Luton Crown Court he was given a 12 month community order, with 250 hours unpaid work.
Isabel Delamere, prosecuting, said police went into the house after the fire had been put out and found 28 plants growing, mainly in a tent in the main bedroom. The fire had begun in the loft.
Officers said the house was in a terrible state of disrepair, and the smell of cannabis was intense throughout. They were concerned that a child had been living there.
Stephen Moore, defending said: “He got involved through naivety. It was completely out of character.
“He has now stopped using cannabis altogether.”
Blaze at cannabis factory in Platers Way, Dunstable sparked by illegally tapped electricity
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