Albanian man jailed at Preston Crown Court after police raid city cannabis farm near Moor Park
A Preston cannabis farm was busted by police after neighbours complained about the smell, a court was told.
Officers broke into the terraced house in St James’s Road to find 139 plants growing in two bedrooms and the loft space.
The crop, which could potentially have had a street value of almost £80,000, was being grown in a sophisticated hydroponics system powered by an electricity supply which bypassed the meter.
And a judge heard the only occupant of the property was an Albanian man who had injured himself falling from the attic as the police smashed their way in.
Egzon Deda pleaded guilty to the production of Class B cannabis and was handed a 16-week prison sentence by Recorder Ayisha Siddiqi. But he is due to be freed immediately after having already spent more than 15 weeks behind bars on remand waiting for the case to come to court.
The judge was told that when the 30-year-old was caught in the house he claimed he had only been there for two days. He said he had not been paid and was only getting food and lodgings for looking after the plants to repay a debt.
Through an interpreter he said he had not set up the equipment, the plants or the electricity supply. “I was there in exchange for food and a place to stay. I owed money to the people.
“I wouldn’t make any financial gain from the cannabis production.”
David Clarke, prosecuting, said the drugs were discovered after a police officer on patrol in the area off Garstang Road was approached by a man at around 9.55am saying he was suspicious of the activities in the house.
He had heard noises which sounded like a fan running constantly and had noticed a strong smell of cannabis coming from a window. Another member of the public told the officer he had heard noises coming from the attic.
The policeman knocked on the door “quite forcibly” but could get no reply, even though there was clearly someone inside the property. Entry was forced and Deda was found upstairs, slightly injured, saying he had fallen from the loft.
In two bedrooms on the first floor police found “an extensive array of equipment”.
“It was a sophisticated set-up,” said Mr Clarke. “There were hydroponics, lighting and so on. This was a very organised arrangement.”
He said Deda had accepted his responsibility for being in the house but had claimed he had only been there for two days.
His mobile phone was seized and had been sent off to police experts for analysis. But despite the arrest dating back to November the examination had still not been carried out due to a backlog of work.
It was claimed in court that Deda had no previous convictions in the UK, although an attempt to find out if he had a record in his homeland had been thwarted because there had been a cyber attack on the Albanian system.
The prosecution said that although the electricity supply at the house had been tampered with and power stolen, there was insufficient evidence to show he had been responsible.
Defence barrister Kim Obrusik said the electricity had clearly been diverted but her client had not done that, he had only been in the property for 48 hours.
She argued that because he was purely there to look after the crop in repayment of a debt, his role in the whole operation had been a minor one.
Ms Obrusik also said that even though there were 139 plants discovered in various stages of growth they were not considered to be capable of producing “a significant quantity for a commercial enterprise.”
Recorder Siddiqi told Deda: “You do not need me to tell you how serious it is for society (for anyone) to be involved in producing drugs. It has a significant impact on society, including those who are victims of drug-related crimes and drug users.”
She added that he had had a “very limited” involvement in the crime and had been doing it in exchange for food and a place to stay because he owed money.
She said there was no indication that he had an awareness or understanding of the scale of the operation and he had therefore been exploited for limited financial reward.
She ordered the cannabis plants should be destroyed.