A MAN who tended a Bradford cannabis farm to help his impoverished family back home in Albania has been jailed for six months.

Robert Murtati was sitting smoking in the living room at the house when a locksmith helped the police to gain access to the property, Bradford Crown Court heard yesterday.

Murtati, 25, of no fixed address, was an illegal immigrant to the United Kingdom who expected to be deported when he had served his sentence, his barrister Soheil Khan said.

He was arrested at the cannabis farm on Moorside Close, Eccleshill, at 5.30pm on January 9 by police officers acting on intelligence.

Prosecutor Jane Brady said Murtati refused to let the police examine his phone.

He at first claimed to have been trafficked into the country and said he owed £15,000 to those who brought him here illegally.

He claimed he was threatened by them and forced to stay at the house but then he abandoned that defence.

Miss Brady said Murtati had £60 in cash on him and the house keys were on the inside of the doors meaning that he could leave at any time.

The court heard there were 45 cannabis plants at the address in the upstairs rooms.

Drug-growing paraphernalia was found in the loft and the electricity supply had been bypassed.

Murtati pleaded guilty to production of cannabis at his first appearance at the magistrates’ court on February 9.

He was remanded into custody and sentenced with the help of an Albanian interpreter.

Miss Brady said he had no previous convictions in this country or his homeland.

Mr Khan told the court Murtati came to the UK six months ago in search of a better life and to help his impoverished family.

He had been exploited by others when looking for a way to earn a living.

“This wasn’t his enterprise but he accepts that he was wrong to engage in it,” Mr Khan said.

He was performing a limited role under direction and his financial gain would be small.

Recorder Taryn Turner told Murtati: “This was a commercial operation for which you would receive some benefit and indeed you had £60 in your pocket.”

She said he was a trusted operative in the cannabis growing scheme and had played a significant role in it.

She told him he was likely to be deported when he had served the sentence.