An Albanian university student who came to the UK as a tourist ended up being the "resident gardener" in a large North East cannabis farm and has been jailed.
Police raided a house on Ivanhoe Crescent, Sunderland, on June 22 this year and discovered 351 cannabis plants in four growing rooms, with more cannabis drying in a fifth room. Newcastle Crown Court heard the drugs were worth up to £88,500, and Musa Qaushi was trusted to look after them.
Jailed for 20 months
Qaushi, 20, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to cultivating cannabis and was jailed for 20 months. The judge said he anticipated the Home Office would deport him. The Albanian university student had entered the UK on a tourist visa and now faces deportation as a criminal.
Judge Edward Bindloss told Qaushi, who was tearful at times: "You were cultivating the cannabis by playing the role of the resident gardener. You were being paid money to undertake this role and being given the accommodation as well."
Court details
The court heard Qaushi is a university student in Tirana, Albania, two years into a five-year course. Judge Bindloss said: "You speak no English and there this will have been your only source of accommodation and income. There was an expectation of significant advantage to you, you got this free accommodation, paid some money and you were trusted with these high value goods."
The judge rejected claims that Qaushi was naive, stating: "You are a university student and I therefore reject that submission. It's a large scale operation covering five rooms. You knew the scale of the operation. As a university student you could draw your own inferences." He added: "These operations don't work without someone to cultivate and that was your role. I accept you were acting under direction and had no influence over others in the chain."
Mairi Clancy, defending, said Qaushi had only been at the cannabis farm for a few days and had no previous convictions. She added: "He asks me to tell the court he is sorry. As you can probably see, he is very emotional about the fact he is before the court today."
