Hartlepool cannabis grower caught with series of weapons is jailed at Teesside Crown Court

Tomasz Borowski was caught in a “well set up” cannabis farm in the town’s Mitchell Street during a police raid on June 20 this year.

Officers discovered 72 plants valued at between £31,000 and £93,000, Teeesside Crown Court heard.

Borowski, 36, was asleep on a mattress in the living room, and police also recovered a number of weapons from a bedroom upstairs.

They were a police style baton, a can of pepper spray and a handheld taser.

Borowski, who came to the UK from Poland in 2009, was also linked to another cannabis farm discovered by police in Suggitt Street in August last year.

His finger print was found on a sodium light bulb used to grow 27 plants at the address.

He was jailed for three years and eight months after pleading guilty to production of a class B drug, having an offensive weapon and possessing prohibited weapons.

The judge, Recorder Andrew Sutcliffe, said: “There’s no doubt that the offences to which you pleaded guilty are so serious that there’s no other sentence that can be given other than an immediate sentence of imprisonment.

"I take the view that you played a significant role because you were due to get a financial gain if the project succeeded.”

In mitigation, Martin Scarborough said Borowski, Hamilton Road, Bournemouth, had a good work ethic prior to the offending and had shown remorse.

He said his client did not know the weapons were illegal and he had them for protection from criminals.