The dad used to grow vegetables in greenhouses but was put behind bars after turning his hand to alternative produce
Valentin Vukulaj, of Aigburth Road, aged 51(Image: Merseyside Police)
A dad hid in the loft when police came knocking at his door. Valentin Vukulaj unsuccessfully tried to remain undetected in the attic when officers caught him red handed inside a £600,000 cannabis farm.
His involvement in cultivating the class B drug was said to have begun when he racked up debts due to a failed business venture in growing vegetables. This resulted in him instead turning to this illegal alternative produce.
Liverpool Crown Court heard yesterday afternoon, Thursday, that Merseyside Police attended an address on Aigburth Road on December 16 last year after receiving reports that the property was being used in order to produce cannabis. While a knock at the door went unanswered, PCs were able to “hear movement inside” and discovered five large growing rooms upon gaining entry.
Jonathan Keane, prosecuting, described how a total of 504 cannabis plants were recovered as a result, alongside 98 items of lighting equipment, transformers and ventilation and hydroponic equipment, with the electrical supply having been bypassed. Vukulaj was ultimately arrested after being “located hiding in a loft space”.
Under interview, the 51-year-old told detectives that he was “offered work by unknown males and taken to an address” where the grow had already been established. He went on to state that he was to be “paid to tend to the plants”, monies which he would use to pay back debts which he had amassed in his home country of Albania.
However, Vukulaj added that he was never ultimately paid and claimed that he was unaware such an operation was illegal in the UK. Experts subsequently estimated that the production line had a predicted yield of between 14kg and 42kg of cannabis, quantities that would be worth between £56,000 and £254,000 at wholesale or from £141,000 to £634,000 when sold at street level.
Callum Ross, defending, told the court: “Given this defendant accepts the fact that he is here illegally, this will be a sentence of immediate imprisonment. He accepts that. The question for your honour is simply one of length, in the circumstances.
“It is clearly a commercial venture with that amount of plants. Your honour has heard what he put forward and what is accepted, that he is essentially a gardener tending to this crop.
“There is present here performance of a limited function under direction, no suggestion of any influence on those above him in a chain and an expectation, in my submission, of relatively limited financial advantage. He was paying off a debt.
“I did ask him about the amount that he agreed to be paid. His instructions were that it depended on the quality of the crop. In my submission, it is of note that he is of previous good character here in the United Kingdom, albeit here illegally. His instructions are that he is of previous good character in the other countries he has resided in as well.
“Your honour has heard an explanation regarding a debt that he racked up to persons in Albania. He tells me that was accumulated as result of trying to set up a business growing vegetables in greenhouses, but that failed, unfortunately, due to the covid pandemic.
“He came to England on a small boat in order to try for a better life and to secure work in some way, shape or form. Unfortunately, that has clearly ended up with him here. This is not the work that he should have been taking.
“He has a wife and two children back in Albania. No doubt, they will be missing him in the foreseeable while he is serving this sentence. He may well find himself back in Albania sooner rather than later. That is a matter for the Home Office and not this court.”
Vukulaj, who was assisted by an interpreter during the hearing, admitted production of cannabis. Appearing via video link to HMP Liverpool, he sat with his arms folded as he was jailed for 20 months.
Sentencing, Judge Louise Brandon said: “It is properly accepted on your behalf that a custodial sentence is the only sentence commensurate with the seriousness of this offence and given your status. The only issue for this court is length of the inevitable custodial sentence.
“Police became aware of the unmistakable odour of cannabis coming from an address on Aigburth Road. It was immediately obvious that there was a cannabis grow inside. You were found hiding in the loft.
“You have no previous convictions. You were under pressure to pay back a debt in Albania. You are now in custody for the first time. You do not speak the language and you are away from your family, who must be concerned about you. They are all factors that I take into account.”