A MAN has been jailed for 16 months after he was caught hiding in the attic at the £150,000 cannabis farm he was tending.

Edmond Gjata was arrested from a house in Paley Road, East Bowling, Bradford, on May 3 last year.

Bradford Crown Court heard that the 30-year-old Albanian national had £1,000 in cash on him and his phone and passport were at the address with him.

Prosecutor Graham O’Sullivan said there were 101 cannabis plants in five rooms. The farm was capable of yielding 18 kilos of the drug with a street value of £150,000.

Gjata told the police he was working at a car wash when he was taken to the house to tend to the plants.

His barrister, Abdul Shakoor, said Gjata was brought illegally to the UK with the promise of work. There was an element of pressure to make him look after the cannabis farm.

Gjata had a long-standing health problem that meant he had breathing difficulties. He was hoping to stay in this country after he had served his sentence.

He pleaded guilty to production of cannabis on the day his case was listed for trial.

Judge Andrew Hatton said Gjata had already served his sentence in custody on remand and on a qualifying curfew. He would be released immediately but the Home Office might then detain him as an illegal immigrant.

The judge ordered the forfeiture of the money found on Gjata and the destruction of the cannabis plants and drugs paraphernalia.