The case against a man who imported and sold cacti with hallucinogenic properties has collapsed after the judge ruled he had committed no crime.

Saul Sette, 34, of Wandsworth, was charged with possessing with intent to supply class A drugs, as well as offering for sale prohibited specimens, after a search of his Garratt Lane flat uncovered various Peruvian cacti and dried specimens.

The computer programmer admitting selling the plants, but said he lost money from the operation and was more interested in the counter-culture role of the plants, used in shamanic rituals for centuries.

Mr Sette was released after Recorder Nicholas Wood told Kingston Crown Court the law was not sufficiently clear.