A DUNFERMLINE woman was caught growing cannabis after phoning 999 to help a friend who had taken an overdose.

The drugs charge led to Kathleen McCarroll, 44, of Law Road, appearing in the dock at Dunfermline Sheriff Court last week.

She admitted that on November 4 last year, she produced cannabis in her home, contrary to the Misuse of Drugs Act.

Depute Fiscal Azrah Yousaf said McCarroll had called the emergency services for an ambulance after her friend took a heroin overdose.

The house was subsequently searched and five plants were found. They were mature in size and the approximate value of the class B drugs was given as £2,750.

Defence solicitor Alexander Flett said his client had tried to get assistance for her friend who, unfortunately, passed away.

"She did the right thing to try and get help," he said.

"She does not have her troubles to seek – she is in significant rent arrears and struggles financially. She accepts she shouldn't have done this. It was not a significant escapade – it was only five plants and one light."

Sheriff Charles Macnair said he took into account the fact that the number of plants wasn't significant but said they did have a significant value.

"Because it is a relatively small number of plants, I am just prepared to deal with this by way of a non-custodial sentence," he added.

He placed McCarroll on a community payback order with a supervision requirement for 18 months and put her on a restriction of liberty order for eight months.