A scientist who devoted his spare room to cultivating magic mushrooms has been told to do 300 hours of unpaid work.
Former banker Jake Kaine, 36, used his science expertise to set up a tent and grow up to £6,000 of the drug – although the value was queried in court.
Officers were tipped off after someone at his address in Runcorn near Liverpool phoned them believing they had been poisoned.
During a raid, police found magic mushrooms plus various jars and test tubes containing the elements of the drug.
Fertiliser, scales, mushroom seeds, a recipe book for growing mushrooms and three mobile telephones were also seized on July 14 last year.