Illegal immigrant was caught tending a £96,800 cannabis harvest at disused Sheffield Arms pub in Brightside

An illegal immigrant has been jailed after he was caught by police overseeing a cannabis harvest worth £96,800 at a former Sheffield pub.
By Jon Cooper
Published 21st Apr 2022, 08:40 BST
Updated 22nd Apr 2022, 12:30 BST
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Albanian national Klajdi Bica, aged 21, was found by police at the former Sheffield Arms pub, on Upwell Street, in Brightside, with 176 cannabis plants, according to a Sheffield Crown Court hearing on April 20.

Prosecuting barrister Louise Gallagher said police forced their way into the disused pub through a steel gate, a door and a further steel inner door before they found 176 cannabis plants in the property along with “gardener” Bica who was hiding in a shower room.

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Ms Gallagher added that police found 44 high-powered lights and cannabis waste, and that the electricity meter had been bypassed.

Pictured is Klajdi Bica, aged 21, of Upwell Street, Brightside, Sheffield, who has been sentenced to 58 weeks of custody after he pleaded guilty to producing class B drug cannabis following his capture with 176 cannabis plants at the former Sheffield Arms pub, on Upwell Street, Sheffield.Pictured is Klajdi Bica, aged 21, of Upwell Street, Brightside, Sheffield, who has been sentenced to 58 weeks of custody after he pleaded guilty to producing class B drug cannabis following his capture with 176 cannabis plants at the former Sheffield Arms pub, on Upwell Street, Sheffield.
Pictured is Klajdi Bica, aged 21, of Upwell Street, Brightside, Sheffield, who has been sentenced to 58 weeks of custody after he pleaded guilty to producing class B drug cannabis following his capture with 176 cannabis plants at the former Sheffield Arms pub, on Upwell Street, Sheffield.

The judge – Recorder Andrew Smith MBE – told Bica: “This is a prevalent and serious offence in this city and in many cities in the UK. The involvement of people like yourself acting in a role under direction enables large profits to be made by the criminals higher up the chain.”

Recorder Smith added that these profits are often invested in other criminal activities and that such premises often pose dangers to those living nearby.

Bica, of Upwell Street, Sheffield, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to producing the class B drug cannabis after the police raid on February 22.

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He told police he had entered the UK illegally in a lorry from Belgium with the hope of leading a better life and he came to Sheffield because he had been told there was an alternative opportunity to building site work.

Bica also stated that a Romanian man had then offered him the job of watering the plants at the property and that payment would be discussed once the crop had been harvested.

Eran Reilly, defending, claimed Bica had paid thousands of Euros to come into the UK illegally, and with a degree of immaturity and naivety he was exploited by a Romanian man.

Mr Reilly also claimed Bica had come to the UK to support his poorly, paralysed mother who needs an operation and he faced threats concerning his family if he did not pay back the money he owed.

Recorder Smith sentenced Bica to 58 weeks of custody which is nearly a 13-and-a-half-month custodial term.