Hartlepool cannabis farmer jailed after police discover supermarket camera footage

The footage and two till receipts from a Hartlepool store convinced a judge that dad-of-three Eritan Bregu, 30, was free to come and go from the £42,000 drugs den and was not held against his will.

Bregu would still have been feeding and watering the 51 plants in Uppingham Street, Hartlepool, if the police had not barged their way in on February 1, said Recorder Andrew Latimer.

The police had been tipped off that day by neighbours that men were jumping over a fence to get into the property, Teesside Crown Court was told.

The back door was open and bags of fertiliser were being stored in the bathroom, said prosecutor Emma Atkinson.

Bregu was in the kitchen, he had a mobile phone and £100 in cash and the house had been set up as a cannabis farm with plants in four rooms.

Miss Atkinson added: "It would have gone to the wholesale cannabis market with a huge financial gain and it would be headed for high end cannabis dealers."

She said that two till receipts were found from Tesco dated January.

Officers made inquiries at the store and saw Bregu on CCTV on the two dates.

Miss Atkinson said: “He accepted what he had done and that he was free to come and go as he pleased."

Martin Scarborough, defending, said in mitigation that Bregu performed a limited role under the direction of others.

Bregu had a wife and three children aged 10, seven and three in Albania and he came to the UK hoping to provide them with a better life.

He had given a candid and full account of his activities since spending five months in London.

The judge told Bregu: "Only a custodial sentence would be justified.

"I accept that you had only been there for a month but I am sure that you would have continued to be there but for your arrest."

Bregu, who appeared over a videolink from Durham Prison, was jailed for 22 months after he pleaded guilty to being concerned in the production of cannabis a Class B drug.

The drugs and equipment were ordered to be destroyed.