A Kosovan man caught tending a 100-plant cannabis grow in a County Durham village had been placed there only three days earlier, a court heard.

Fitim Bushi was the only person present when police executed a search warrant at the address in Church Street, Wheatley Hill, on the morning of Friday August 25.

He was arrested and, on searching the property, officers found cannabis plants growing in the loft and all upstairs rooms, while the electricity meter was found to have been bypassed.

Martin Towers, prosecuting, said exactly 100 plants were recovered from the house in various stages of maturity.

The Northern Echo: Kosovan man Fitim Bushi found himself tending an illegal cannabis crop in rented property in

The defendant was found to be in possession of a mobile phone, some cash and a set of keys.

He told officers he had originally come to the UK on a tourist visa and was driven to the North East and arrived at the address only three days before the police raid.

Read more: Police seize 16,000 cannabis plants across the North East

Bushi said he was merely watering the plants, as he had been told to do by those running the operation.

He said threats had been made as to what may happen to his family back home in Kosovo if he did not comply.

But he told police that he was happy to be arrested to get away from the property.

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The 21-year-old defendant, who has no previous convictions in this country, admitted producing a quantity of cannabis.

Shaun Dryden, in mitigation, said Bushi had been in the UK for 14 months having originally arrived on the tourist visa, but then "over-stayed" when it expired.

He was living with various friends and family associates in the London area, before being detained by the immigration authorities earlier this year.

Bushi was placed in a detention centre near to Heathrow Airport, but he was bailed with reporting restrictions, in February.

Mr Dryden said having been bailed, the defendant absconded, and was then working in, “the black economy” for several months until he was brought to Wheatley Hill to tend the cannabis farm, in August.

“When he arrived there, the farm was already set up and his role was to water the various plants round the house.

“He was honest enough to admit he would be paid for that service, about £500 a month.

“But he maintains he was in the house for only a matter of days before it was raided.

“His intention was to send money back to his family in Kosovo.

“He knows, now, it has to be a prison sentence, his first, and at the end he expects, and wants, to be deported back to his home country,” added Mr Dryden.

Recorder Andrew Smith said the defendant was playing a role in what was, “plainly, a commercial operation, well equipped to ensure a profitable grow.”

The Recorder told Bushi he accepted he was, “the gardener”, with the grow probably set up by organised criminals.

“Experience tells that they rarely risk their own arrest and rely on people like you who are at the sharp end to manage and oversee the growth of these crops.

“Your background fits with the circumstances of many such cases that come before the courts.

“I accept you came to the UK legally, but you out-stayed your visa.

“You, no doubt, thought you would be better off in this country than in your home country.

“You learned legitimate work wasn’t available to you and that’s how you came to be involved in this illegal cannabis grow, which would have been capable of making a considerable profit for those organised criminals.

“You came into this, no doubt, with your eyes open, no doubt knowing what you were doing.”

He imposed a 15-month custodial and told Bushi he would be released on licence at about the half-way stage.

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But he said the UK does not have a formal arrangement to repatriate Kosovan nationals, as it does with neighbouring Albania.

Recorder Smith said: “I fear if you remain in the UK when you are released you will find yourself back being pressured by others into more offending.

“You don’t want that, and I don’t want that, so I hope things work out better for you in future.”