Lithuanian man jailed over £120,000 cannabis farm in Hartlepool semi-detached house

Officers discovered almost 150 mature plants in a property in Kyle Avenue, in the Foggy Furze area of town, which had been converted into a “sophisticated” cannabis farm.

Teesside Crown Court heard police were led to the address last October after they stopped Lithuanian man Justinas Ingelevicius in a car in the town’s Sydenham Road the day before when they recovered an air pistol.

His brother, Deividas Ingelevicius, 44, was found inside the cannabis farm where he had been tending to the plants for around five months.

Prosecutor Shaun Dryden said: “The house had been converted into a sophisticated grow.

"The three first floor bedrooms all contained lighting, plastic sheeting, timers and in total 145 mature female flowering cannabis plants.”

And more than a dozen bottles of plant food were found in a cupboard.

Photos of the plants and set up were found on Deividas Ingelevicius’s phone.

Mr Dryden added: “The notional street value of the plants was between £40,000 and £121,000.”

Deividas Ingelevicius admitted being concerned in the production of cannabis, a class B drug.

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Charlie Thompson said in mitigation that his client had fallen on hard times financially when his work visa expired.

But the judge hit back saying: “The solution to his financial difficulty isn’t to commit crime, it’s to go home.”

Mr Thompson added: “He recognises he made the wrong decision. He was tempted by the offer of cash.”

Jailing Ingelevicius, of Kyle Avenue, for 28 months Judge Jonathan Carroll said: “This was clearly designed and intended to produce significant commercial quantities of cannabis.

"The photos on your phone appear to show you not in the slightest concerned or distressed about being involved in this criminality.

"It’s a level of criminality which demands an immediate custodial sentence.”

Ingelevicius will also be referred to the Home Office regarding his future in this country.

Justinas Ingelevicius, 40, of Boston, Lincolnshire, admitted possession of a firearm when prohibited and was fined £250.

He was also jailed for 10 months for actual bodily harm over an assault on a passenger on a flight from Riga to Stansted Airport in October 2023.