A JUDGE today urged an Albanian cannabis gardener to spread the message back home that if you come to the United Kingdom and commit crimes you will go to prison.

Elvis Keta was arrested at a £27,000 drug farm in Festival Avenue, Shipley, by police officers acting on intelligence, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Keta, 21, was living at the address on October 14 when he opened the door to officers and said: “I’m not the boss” when asked if there were cannabis plants in the house.

Prosecutor Nicoleta Atistari said Keta was the only person at the address. He had £50 in cash on him and an iPhone.

Scottish currency totalling £1,700 was found in a suitcase along with his passport.

All the rooms except the living room were given over to the growing of cannabis.

The sophisticated set-up included lamps, fans and growing tents and the electricity supply had been bypassed.

In all, there were 55 plants of which 44 were mature.

Miss Atistari said the estimated yield was 4.62 kilos with a wholesale value of between £13,000 and £27,000.

The smaller plants were a follow-on crop.

Keta, who pleaded guilty to production of cannabis, told the police he was forced to work at the factory by a group of men he met in Germany.

He said they threatened him and his family but gave no further details.

The court heard that he could be a victim of modern slavery but the findings were inconclusive.

The fact that he had money, a phone and a passport showed he had some freedom of movement.

Keta’s barrister, Shufqat Khan, said he knew he was getting an immediate prison sentence.

He was an Albanian national whose parents were very poor. He was the eldest of three children and he borrowed from “less than reputable sources” to come to the United Kingdom.

Those he owed the money to then put pressure on him to pay them back by working at the cannabis farm.

“Whatever dreams he had of having a better life in this country and being able to assist his parents back home have turned into a nightmare,’ Mr Khan said.

Judge Jonathan Rose jailed Keta for 12 months and said he was likely to be deported when he had served his sentence.

“Spread the message that if you come to the United Kingdom and commit criminal offences you will go to prison. There are no riches to be found here for people who commit crimes,” he said.