‘Gardener’ jailed after £200k cannabis farm found in Plymouth house

A man has been jailed for tending a £200,000 cannabis farm in a house in Plymouth.

Teslim Muhmutag watered the plants at a property in Mutley to pay back a £23,000 debt he owed traffickers, a court heard.

The 29-year-old was caught running from the house when police raided it in August last year.

More than 100 mature plants were found at the address, which could have been sold for anything between £164,000 and £212,000.

He was jailed for seven months at Truro Crown Court.

Judge Robert Linford told him: "You are described as a gardener in what was a serious commercial cannabis grow capable of making those higher up the chain very substantial profits indeed."

Muhmutaj, of no fixed address, previously pleaded guilty to production of a Class B drug.

The court heard Muhmutaj came to England in a lorry from Albania and had been placed in the Mutley property to pay off his debt.

He told police he had been watering the plants for a month before they were found.

Sam Castlehouse, who represented Muhmutaj, cut short his defence when the judge said he would pass a sentence which would result in his client’s immediate release.

Prisoners are usually released at the half-way stage with time served on remand taken into account towards their term.