Drug house gardener sentenced
A CANNABIS gardener caught looking after 128 illegal plants has been sentenced.
Kushtrim Sinani pleaded guilty to producing the class B drug, on December 5.
Leicester Crown Court was told the police visited a semi-detached property in Brighton Close, Wigston, following a report of a suspected cannabis grow.
Elizabeth Dodds, prosecuting, said officers knocked on the door and initially received no response.
They looked through the letterbox and a gap in the curtains to see bright lights and cannabis plants inside.
The prosecutor said: “After about five minutes the door was opened by the defendant, Sinani, who presented himself and was arrested.
“There were 21 mature budding plants in the lounge and a further 19 in a front bedroom, with 65 in the attic and 23 immature plants in a rear bedroom.”
She said the crop, when harvested, would have had a potential street value of about £90,000.
The electricity meter had been bypassed.
The defendant’s mobile phone was rendered useless as he had submerged it in a lavatory before opening the door.
Islam Khan, mitigating, said Sinani had no previous convictions in the UK or abroad.
He said: “The defendant is very remorseful and regrets what he’s done.
“He comes from a poor background and knows the consequences will include deportation to Albania, where he had been working in the mining industry but couldn’t make ends meet to support his elderly parents.
“He also has a disabled brother, who lost one of his legs in a mining accident.
“The defendant came to the UK illegally, in the back of a lorry and accrued a debt.
“He had been a cannabis gardener at the Wigston address for about two months before his arrest.
“He had no other choice because of the debt.”
Sinani was jailed for 27 months.
128 CANNABIS PLANTS FOUND AFTER POLICE TIPPED OFF