Two men working as 'security' for cannabis growing site in Leeds found with a samurai sword and knuckle duster

Jakob Orlowski, 25, and Mateusz Dardzinski, 32, were sentenced to 32 months and 28 months in prison respectively at a hearing at Leeds Crown Court yesterday (Thursday).

Orlowski, Appleton Square, Leeds, had pleaded guilty to one count of producing cannabis and one of possessing an offensive weapon in a private place and Dardzinski, of Autumn Terrace, Leeds, had pleaded guilty to one count of producing cannabis and one of possessing an offensive weapon.

For the prosecution, Chloe Hudson said that on October 1, 2021, police executed a drugs warrant at a property on Ramshead Approach in Seacroft where they found £45,000 in cash. A man was arrested and information linked him to another property on Autumn Terrace in Burley.

Police then gained entry to the second property where they found the two defendants. The house was being used as a cannabis grow and police found 65 cannabis plants growing, £650 in cash, a samurai sword and a knuckle duster.

The two men said that they had been employed as security for the cannabis grow and that they were “not in control of the money”.

Representing Orlowski, Charlotte Noddings said that her client had spent over a year and five months in custody since he was arrested in October 2021 and was only released on bail in March of this year. She also asked the judge to give him credit for his guilty plea.

Ms Noddings said that Orlowski was working “under direction” and only had “some understanding of the operation”. She said that he has no previous convictions and that while he was in custody he had “a lot of time to think about what he had become caught up in”. She said: “He wants to express how sorry he is.”

She said he was a “hard working and caring young man to whom family is everything”.

For Dardzinski, Emily Hassell also highlighted that her client had spent a significant amount of time in custody.

Sentencing the two men, His Honour Judge Andrew Stubbs KC said: “Everybody knows growing cannabis is a very big business for criminals. It makes a lot of money. And a cannabis grow is a valuable commodity so they need people to look after their valuable commodity. People they know and trust.

"Back in October 2021 you two were such people; installed as security for a cannabis grow in Leeds.”

He concluded that the two played a “significant role” in the operation as they had stayed at the property for six months and “common sense” told him that if they kept the weapons then they would be willing to use them.

He issued them both with jail sentences, but allowed them to leave the court as they had already served the time while in custody.

He also ordered them to return to court on September 14 so that a matter around the weapons offences could be addressed.