JAILED THIS WEEK: Here's who has been locked up in Bradford

Two cannabis gardeners were caught feasting on a “lavish” spread of chicken, cheese and grapes with a case of Budweiser to hand, Bradford Crown Court heard on April 5.

The Albanian nationals were arrested at a house in Welbury Drive, near Oak Lane, Manningham, Bradford, after the police broke in acting on a tip-off from a member of the public.

Arlind Sinani and Lajdjon Kaca, both 22, had been living at the address for months tending to a substantial cannabis farm there, prosecutor Syam Soni said.

They pleaded guilty to production of cannabis and were each jailed for two years and nine months.

The court heard that the police forced their way into the house on February 25 and seized 287 cannabis plants and specialist equipment, including 37 transformers.

A sheet was covering the front door to stop people looking in but a pungent smell of cannabis was apparent from the outside.

Kaca was in the living room and arrested trying to flee upstairs.

Sinani was hiding under a table, the court heard.

The electricity supply had been bypassed and the street had to be dug up to put matters right.

Mr Soni said there had been a recent harvest of cannabis at the address with 300 stems found.

Sinani had £300 in his bank account and there was evidence of “lavish” eating, the court heard.

He told the police he had arrived in the United Kingdom in the back of a lorry in 2016 and that tending to the cannabis farm was “his job.”

Mr Soni said that both men were likely to be deported after they had served their prison sentences.

Christopher Haddock said in mitigation for Sinani that he had worked in London as a groundsman and labourer until the coronavirus pandemic ended that employment.

He was offered the opportunity to live at the house in Bradford five months ago and had been a caretaker there since in return for expenses and food.

“The lifestyle could hardly be described as lavish. There was cooked chicken and a few bottles of Budweiser,” Mr Haddock said.

Jonathan Turner, for Kaca, told the court: “The defendant and his parents were miss-sold the dream by people smugglers that this country’s streets were paved with gold.”

His parents invested their £2,000 life-savings as a deposit to smuggle him into the country.

He still owed £20,000 and was working to repay it.

He needed permission to leave the Bradford house and had been allowed out once a week to buy groceries.

Judge Jonathan Rose said that Kaca may have been miss-sold the dream that the streets were paved with gold but “the streets of this country will not be lined or paved with cannabis.”

The police had found “a half-eaten feast” of chicken, cheese and grapes and a case of Budweiser at the address, he continued.

“Both of you were living well as part of your employment as gardeners,” Judge Rose said.

Jerome Williams

A wanted burglar has been apprehended and locked up for three and a half years following a “blitz” of night-time raids on householders’ garages.

Jerome Williams’ description was circulated by the police last month and today he was sentenced at Bradford Crown Court after being arrested on a bench warrant and held in custody.

Williams, 27, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to burgling six detached garages in Bradford to steal power tools and other equipment between late January and early March.

Prosecutor Ben Whittingham said Williams had previous convictions for house burglary, handling stolen good and going equipped.

He had racked up enough offences of domestic burglary to have been dealt with in the past as a “third striker.”

This time he was just weeks into an 18-month jail sentence, suspended for two years, imposed at Bradford Crown Court on December 1 last year.

Mr Whittingham said he smashed windows in the garages or removed glass panes to gain entry overnight. Some of the buildings were ransacked as he searched for power tools and garden equipment to steal.

One householder lost £2,400 of tools, food and detergents when his garage was targeted.

Mr Whittingham said the offences were aggravated by the fact that Williams was on prison licence and burgled at night. On at least one occasion he had an accomplice.

Williams’ barrister, Jeremy Hill-Baker, conceded that he was a persistent burglar with a background of similar, and worse, offending.

He said Williams was a heroin addict and it had been hoped that the drug rehabilitation requirement he received with his suspended sentence would “yield some fruit.”

He attended the sessions at first but lapsed back into drug taking before his first appointment before the court.

Mr Hill-Baker said Williams pleaded guilty at the first opportunity before the magistrates.

He knew he must change his ways but was finding his addiction very hard to combat.

Judge Jonathan Rose said Williams had “a long and appalling history of persistent offending.”

He had embarked on a “deliberate campaign” to burgle garages to steal power tools to sell to fund his drug habit.

“You have caused inconvenience, damage and huge loss as well as distress and upset,” Judge Rose said.

“This blitz of offending must be met with a sentence of imprisonment.”

Williams was jailed for two years for the burglaries and the 18-month suspended sentence was activated in full to run consecutively.