'All too familiar story' as Albanian man jailed for watering cannabis plants at Telford house
A young man who came to the UK illegally and found himself watering cannabis plants at a criminal enterprise in Telford is set to be deported back to Albania.
Esli Basho, aged 22, was found upstairs at a mid-terrace house in School Road, Donnington, when police raided the premises on January 18 this year, and had been in custody ever since.
His barrister told a judge at Shrewsbury Crown Court on Monday that Basho was very sorry for what he had done.
Prosecutors had accepted that Basho, who was following sentencing proceedings at the court via an interpreter, had arrived in the UK in late 2022.
He had been working and living at a car wash before losing his job.
Destitute, with no money, no job, homeless and unable to speak English he then went to Birmingham where he met with fellow Albanians.
The court was told that he was helped by his compatriots and asked to water cannabis plants for a while. He had the possibility of working in a car wash again "dangled" in front of him but, within a week of his arriving in Donnington, police raided the property.
The court was told officers found him upstairs where a living room, two bedrooms and the loft had been handed over to production of the class B drug.
Officers found a total of 123 cannabis plants throughout the house and loft, which had been equipped with heating, lighting and ventilation for the task.
The court was told that production had been on a "commercial scale" with an estimate that up to 10.3kg of the drug would have a street value of more than £100,000. The court was told that Basho had not been paid.
Basho's mitigating barrister said and judge Paul Glenn accepted that Basho held a "lesser role" in what was an "all too familiar story".
The court was told that Basho is remorseful, has a previous good character and "did not come to this country with the intention of producing cannabis."
Judge Glenn said it was an "all too familiar story" of someone who had "come illegally with no right to remain or work in the UK.
"It may be that you have been taken advantage of but these are very prevalent offences both locally and across the UK."
Basho, he said, was "not naive or coerced and recognised the scale of the operation".
And judge Glenn said only an immediate custodial sentence was appropriate for the one count of producing a class B drug and he sent Basho down for 12 months.
Judge Glenn said he anticipated that the sentence would "trigger automatic deportation" and also told Basho that he would have to pay a victim surcharge.
A destruction order was also made against the drugs, the paraphernalia and two mobile phones.