Man jailed over cannabis farm worth £72,000 found at house in Beeston

Gani Muca was locked up for two years over the discovery of the plants at the property in Beeston on June 6 this year.

Leeds Crown Court heard police officers found Muca living in one room of the house and cannabis plants in all the other rooms of the three-storey property.

Jonathan Sharp, prosecuting, said the electricity supply to the house had been bypassed and rooms were equipped with lighting and growing equipment.

Evidence of previous cannabis crops grown at the house were found in the basement.

Muca, 27, was arrested and interviewed and told officers he had been living at the property for three weeks after agreeing to look after the plants for others.

Muca said he had been paid £80 per week for food and had been offered a share of the profits from the sale of the cannabis.

Mr Sharp said the plants were capable of producing cannabis with a street value of between £61,000 and £71,000.

Muca, an Albanian national, said he had been in the country since February and had entered freely into the agreement with the men.

Muca, of Oxley Road, Huddersfield, pleaded guilty to producing cannabis.

He was assessed as being a low risk of reoffending.

Martin Morrow, mitigating, said Muca has no previous convictions and described his client's offending as being out of character.

He: "He took a foolish and ill-conceived decision to take charge of the plants at the address."

Sentencing, Recorder Ashley Serr said: "Given the seriousness of this matter, only an immediate sentence of imprisonment would be adequate punishment."