The operator of an illegal cannabis farm broke his foot when he fell from a roof and then tried to hide in a bush while fleeing from police.
Albanian national Ditran Hoxha, 38, was cultivating 600 plants with a street value of £1 million in Halifax, West Yorkshire, Bradford Crown Court heard.
When officers from West Yorkshire Police raided the events hall, Hoxha tried to leap from the roof to escape them but broke his foot, the Halifax Courier reports. He was arrested in a nearby bush.
Hoxha, who had come to the UK illegally, was jailed for 30 months.
Prosecutor Michael Smith told the court how officers searched the building on May 30 and found plant food, compost, water barrels, six separate growing areas, and a well-equipped living area set up behind the bar.
He added: “There was a seventh growing area in the attic which was accessed by a specially built staircase from the living area.”
Hoxha, who will be deported at the end of his sentence, pleaded guilty to production of cannabis.
The Recorder of Bradford Judge Jonathan Durham Hall QC noted: “Somebody had used considerable skill and professionalism to convert the premises into seven growing areas.”
In the UK, cannabis is a Class B drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, which means it’s illegal to have for yourself, give away, or sell.
Possession is punishable by up to five years in prison, an unlimited fine, or both, while supplying and producing it can land offenders inside for up to 14 years and/or an unlimited fine.
If the police catch people supplying illegal drugs in a home, club, bar, or hostel, they can prosecute the landlord, owner, or anyone else who manages the premises.
