Jailed Sheffield cannabis gardener hopes to be free before his terminally-ill sister dies
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Sheffield Crown Court heard on January 25 how Izmir Dragoti, aged 44, was found by police with 140 cannabis plants and 96 cannabis cuttings valued between £50,000 and £129,800 at a house on Staniforth Road, at Darnall, in Sheffield.
Katy Rafter, prosecuting, said: “On August 3, of last year, police officers executed a search warrant at Staniforth Road, in Sheffield. Cannabis was being grown inside that property. A total of 70 plants split between the basement and the attic with a further 70 plants drying on the first floor.
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Hide Ad"There was a follow-up crop of 96 cannabis cuttings. They were in a cupboard above the stairs.”
Dragoti and another man who has not been prosecuted were arrested in a bedroom, according to Ms Rafter, and the defendant appeared to have been living at the property which had cannabis-growing paraphernalia including hydroponic equipment.
Ms Rafter said an expert estimated the value of the recovered cannabis was between £50,000 and up to £129,000.
Albanian national Dragoti, of no fixed abode, who has no previous convictions, pleaded guilty to producing cannabis.
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Hide AdDefence barrister Rebecca Stevens said: “He came here at the end of 2021. He has a wife and a ten-year-old son in Albania who quite frankly are struggling to survive. He hoped he would find legitimate work. He was living with a friend and effectively he was left homeless.”
Ms Stevens added Dragoti was originally offered work which he had believed was to be decorating.
Dragoti claims he was pressured into looking after the cannabis, according to Ms Stevens, and although he was offered money he did not receive payment.
Ms Stevens said Draogoti’s sister has terminal cancer and he hopes to return home to see her before she dies.
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Hide AdShe added: “He has been remanded in custody since his arrest and he has found that very difficult but the thing that is in his mind and troubling him the most is his sister and when he speaks of her he becomes very emotional.”
Judge Peter Kelson KC who accepted Dragoti had only been a gardener sentenced him to 12 months of custody.