Asylum seeker 'desperate' to work' caught working at Leeds house cannabis operation

Police attended the property on Clifton Terrace in Harehills on March 7 with a warrant, with Gjin Nikolli letting them in. They found 33 plants across two rooms, along with a “professional” set up including 27 lamps, timers and transformers, and fertiliser and plant food. The cannabis it could produce was worth around £18,000.

They found an iPhone and Nikolli’s wallet containing £600. He was interviewed where he admitted working on the cannabis operation. The 36-year-old said he arrived in London illegally from Albania seven months ago and claimed asylum.

He wanted a legitimate job but was not permitted to work while his application was processed. Nikolli said he accrued a debt in his home country and needed to work to pay it back, so was offered the chance to head north to Leeds and be a cannabis gardener. He was paid £1,000 a month, and provided food and accommodation at the Harehills house. He had been there more than two months before it was raided.

Prosecutor Mark Thomas told Leeds Crown Court: “He knew it was illegal but the given the debt he owed, he accepted the risk it brought with it. He admitted he was not threatened or forced to grow the cannabis. It was his free choice.”

Nikolli admitted a charge of producing cannabis. Mitigating, Sarah Myatt said he simply became “desperate” and added: “He did not put the blame on anyone else for his involvement.” Judge Simon Phillips KC jailed him for 24 months.