A DRUG addict who was recruited to act as "a minder" for a professionally-run cannabis farm in a Bradford house has been given a suspended prison sentence.

Iranian national Aram Salih, 36, had been living in the house in Saplin Street, Girlington, for about ten days when a British Gas engineer called at the property last November.

Prosecutor Charlotte Eastwood told Bradford Crown Court today that the engineer discovered there was a strong smell of cannabis in the house and he could also heard the noise of a ventilation system.

Police officers were sent to the house and during a search of the premises they found dozens of skunk cannabis plants growing in the cellar and the attic.

Miss Eastwood said the cellar had been fully equipped with nine lights, ventilation and ducting and the officers found 57 plants growing in that part of the property.

The court heard that there was a similar set-up in the attic area and 44 plants were being cultivated in that room.

"The defendant was located in a first floor front bedroom and arrested at the scene,' said Miss Eastwood.

"It was clear that he had been living there."

After analysis it was discovered that the estimated yield from the 101 plants would have been about 6.5kilograms of cannabis and Miss Eastwood said that could have been worth almost £56,000 at street value.

The court heard that Salih, who had been in the country since 2004, was a user of cannabis and cocaine and he had been pressured into acting as security for the cannabis farm.

He pleaded guilty to being concerned in the production of cannabis on the basis that he only became involved because he was in debt.

Salih said he had not received any money for his role, but he did receive daily amounts of cocaine for his own habit.

Barrister Rodney Ferm, for Salih, said his client had played a lesser role in the operation of the farm and it was clear that the plants had been been put in place before the defendant started living in the house.

"He pleaded guilty at the very first opportunity and this is his first conviction in this country or any other," added Mr Ferm.

The court heard that Salih had an on-going problem with drugs and Judge Robert Bartfield told him via an interpreter that his eight-month prison sentence could be suspended for a year.

But Salih, of Rosebank, Queensbury, Bradford, will also be subject to a 12-month community order which includes a six-month drug rehabilitation requirement.

Judge Bartfield described the set-up at the house as a professionally planned operation and said Salih's role had been to "mind" the crop.