Drugs gardener claims he tended to Leeds house farm to 'pay for sister's medical assistance'

Albanian Fatmir Meco was caught at the house on Sutherland Mount in Burmantofts when police raided the property on November 30 last year.

They found three rooms filled with a total of 114 plants and all the usual paraphernalia such as lights and fans. Experts said it was capable of producing six kilogrammes of the drug for each harvest, Leeds Crown Court heard.

Meco, 29, told police he had only been at the house for between five and six weeks, and said he only agreed to work there because he ran up a £20,000 debt in his home country to pay for medical assistance for his sibling. He was then smuggled into the UK illegally to be put to work at the operation.

He has no previous convictions in the UK, and admitted a charge of producing cannabis. He appeared in court via video link from HMP Leeds where he has been held on remand since his arrest.

In mitigation, Soheil Khan said he had expressed remorse and that he entered an early guilty plea.

The judge, the Recorder of Leeds Guy Kearl KC told him: “You were aware of the size of the operation and you were expecting a significant financial advantage. It was a limited role but an important one. There was some coercion and intimidation.”

He jailed him for 20 months, for which he will serve half, and then is likely to be deported.