HE was caught in possession of £30,000 worth of cannabis skunk and also admitted growing 37 skunk plants in his nephew’s attic.

Now a judge has ordered Leonard Alfred Bardy to pay back £20,000 within six months or face more time behind bars.

The 61-year-old, of Armstrong Way, Rawcliffe, was sentenced to two years and three months following an operation by North Yorkshire Police’s organised crime unit.

A confiscation hearing at York Crown Court, held under the Proceeds of Crime Act as part of the sentencing process, has now revealed Bardy’s only recoverable asset was his share in the equity of his matrimonial home.

Bardy was locked up last year after pleading guilty to two counts of possession with intent to supply and one count of producing cannabis. Bardy was caught when police followed him to Darlington in December 2006 and caught him red-handed with a bag, containing just under 2kg of skunk cannabis – a strong variety of the drug.

A search of his nephew Thomas Dean Dale’s house in Redbarn Drive, York, revealed a further 2kg in a cupboard and a hydroponics system – used to feed plants without earth – and 37 cannabis plants in the loft.

In the bedroom of Ross Nelson at the house, they found a further ounce of the drug.

Bardy paid about £14,000 for the 4kg which would have netted him almost £30,000 if sold on.

Chris Smith, prosecuting, told the court: “This is a criminal lifestyle case. The defendant’s available assets is half of the equity at his home address that has been valued at £20,000. The property has been re-valued in light of the ever changing market.”

Judge Stephen Ashurst, Recorder of York, said: “I am invited to declare that you have benefited from your criminal life style to the tune of £66,486, calculated under the provisions of the Proceeds of Crime Act. After careful enquiries made by the financial investigation unit of North Yorkshire Police and the co-operation of yourself, the only available asset at this stage is the interest in your matrimonial home which is £20,000.”

Making a confiscation order for that sum, he said: “I will allow six months for that to be paid in full. If you fail to pay that there will a period in prison of 12 months, quite separate to the sentence you received for the offences.”

* Dale received a 12-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, plus 300 hours’ community service after pleading guilty to one count of possession with intent and one count of producing the drug.

Nelson pleaded guilty to possession with intent to supply for the ounce found in his room, and also to producing the drug. He was sentenced to 150 hours’ community service.