A DRUG dealer who was caught growing a large-scale cannabis farm after water leaked into a Musselburgh supermarket below has been jailed.

Andrew Fairholm, 53, had set up a drug cultivation in a unit masquerading as a furniture business store above a Farmfoods supermarket in Musselburgh.

The cannabis farm housed about 90 plants and the illegal crop could have brought in a profit of between £50,000 and £75,000.

But the dealer’s large-scale operation was rumbled when water began to pour into the supermarket below and staff were forced to call in police to deal with the leak.

Fairholm, who had pretended to operate a second-hand furniture business from the unit above the frozen food outlet, admitted to supplying cannabis when he appeared at Edinburgh Sheriff Court last month.

He returned to the dock for sentencing last Friday, where Sheriff Donald Corke jailed the drug dealer for 24 months.

Last month, the court was told that Fairholm had previously been jailed for five years after he was caught with £200,000 of heroin while working as a private hire driver.

Fiscal Rosie Cook said that entry to the property above the Farmfoods store was forced after staff spotted water pouring into the shop on February 7, 2018.

Ms Cook said: “Once inside, a large cannabis cultivation was identified and the police were called.

“Police thereafter sought a warrant and unusually left a call back card for the accused to contact them.

“The accused then attended at Musselburgh Police Station on February 13.”

Ms Cook added that the furniture business was found to be housing 90 cannabis plants with a street value of between £50,000 and £75,000.

The drugs were said to have been set up in “five separate growing areas” within tents and the area also contained equipment such as heating, lighting and fans.

Solicitor Stephen Mannifield said that his client had been previously involved in the drug trade while employed as a private hire driver and had served five years in prison.

The lawyer added that Fairholm, of Newbigging, Musselburgh, was a second-hand furniture dealer and he had been approached by cannabis dealers to help them set up the plantation.

Mr Mannifield said the dealers paid the £500 monthly rent after he had agreed to “share the property” with them.

Fairholm pleaded guilty to being concerned in the supply of cannabis at High Street, Musselburgh, between September 7, 2017, and February 7, 2018.

Fairholm had previously been jailed in March 2006 after he was caught with nearly two kilos of heroin worth about £200,000.

Police had received intelligence that Fairholm was involved in the drug trade and followed him as he drove his Ford Mondeo to a service station in Musselburgh.

Police officers then watched on as he took delivery of two packages and pulled him over a short time after in December 2005.

He admitted to supplying the Class A drug at the High Court in Edinburgh and was jailed for five years.