A 22-year-old man said he was 'happy to be arrested' when he was found during a raid on a cannabis grow in Rochdale.
Erald Abmetaj was arrested on December 12, 2022, during the raid at a property on Howard Street, Rochdale. He was the only person in the house which was filled with a total of 481 adult cannabis plants.
Police found that the home had been turned into a cannabis farm with various rooms containing growing equipment such as lamps, tape and foam. Minshull Street Crown Court heard how Abmetaj, who pleaded guilty 'at the first available opportunity' for being in the production of cannabis, was working in the grow in exchange 'for food and a place to stay.'
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Abmetaj, who described the job as ‘miserable’, is originally from Albania and had come to the UK last year.
Abmetaj was offered the job as a ‘farmer’ after coming to the country and finding himself homeless. His job was to water and feed the plants, the court heard.
Barrister Patrick Buckley, defending Abmetaj, told the court that Abmetaj accepts there is ‘no better place’ for him than in prison where he has enjoyed ‘privileged’ status as an interpreter while in custody. Mr Buckley went on to say that Abmetaj is willing to go home back to Albania to work at his father’s market store and ‘put this behind him’.
When summing up the case, Judge Maurice Greene accepted that Abmetaj’s part in the crime was ‘that of a lesser role’ and commented that he found it ‘sad’ that Abmetaj had to come to the country in search of money.
Abmetaj, of no fixed abode, was sentenced to 16 months in prison for being in the production of cannabis.
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