Dinghy-crossing immigrant caught growing drugs in Leeds told : 'A better life is not available here'
A judge told an immigrant caught tending to a £47,000 cannabis farm that a better life was “not available” for those coming to the UK illegally.
Safet Marina crossed the English Channel in dinghy in 2022, but was arrested when police raided the house in Beeston in May of this year. The 44-year-old Albanian father-of-four said he had come to the UK with hope of making a living and had been in construction before work dried up.
Out of desperation, he took a job offered by gangsters and was taken to the house on Clovelly Place.
Jailing him at Leeds Crown Court, Judge Andrew Stubbs said: “Coming over the Channel by boat, you must have known by doing so you had no right to work when you came here. Having mixed with criminals to secure your entry to the UK, you unfortunately fell into their clutches again.
“You came here for a better life, the sooner people realise this is not available, the better. You were taken to a house and locked in knowing that what you were going to do was grow cannabis. To act criminally was not the solution.”
Prosecutor Rebecca Young said police had been alerted to the property by the landlord, who said it should have been empty but it was being occupied and the locks had been changed. He suspected it was being used to grow cannabis.
Officers forced entry on May 8 and found Marina in the cellar. There were 86 sapling plants and the usual sophisticated set up in the cellar, including transformers, lights, fans and insulation. The other rooms of the property were also being prepared for further cannabis grows.
It was estimated that the plants were capable of producing 4.73kg of cannabis. The value ranged from £16,450 wholesale, to £47,300 on the street.
He admitted a charge of producing cannabis. He has no previous convictions.
Mitigating, Emily Woodside said he had been acting as a gardener for the illegal grow for just a few days, and had found himself there because he had been “destitute” without work. She said he did not know what the job was until he got there.
She said: “He took the job out of desperation for his situation. He was subsequently locked in the property. He did not know why he was locked in.”
Judge Stubbs jailed Marina for 12 months.