A man who admitted stealing electricity to grow cannabis has avoided jail.

Unemployed Jonathon Smith, of Boscombe Avenue in Leyton, was sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court on Wednesday.

The 49-year-old was handed a four-month jail sentence, suspended for 18 months, and ordered to carry out 60 hours of unpaid work. 

He is also required to pay £80 in victim surcharge costs. 

Smith pleaded guilty at Thames Magistrates Court on April 9 to abstracting electricity without authority and producing a class B drug.

He was arrested on January 7 following a police raid on his home.