A NEWLY arrived illegal immigrant from Albania was given accommodation, providing he tended a virtual wall-to-wall cannabis grow in rented property.

Following concerns of nearby residents, police executed a search warrant at the premises, in Dipton, near Stanley, on June 24.

Durham Crown Court heard that the smell of cannabis was immediately apparent when officers arrived at the property, in Wesley Terrace.

It was found to contain a total of 281 plants in various states of growth, with a potential street sale value of £126,000.

Some were found behind a fake partition wall in the living room.

Sophisticated growing equipment was also recovered by police.

Defendant Rashat Haxhiu was arrested after unlocking the rear door and, despite claiming to be an Italian national, was found in possession of an Albanian passport, bearing his details.

His fingerprints were found on a light bulb and a box of gloves in the house.

Haxhiu, 21, admitted producing a class B drug.

Adam Scott, mitigating, said Haxhiu paid £7,000 to be brought to this country in the back of a lorry and on arrival was dropped in Newcastle.

He was given keys to the property on the basis that he tended the plants, which he did for two months.

Mr Scott said regardless of the outcome of the case, Haxhiu would be deported, and now yearns to return to his homeland.

Imposing a two-year prison sentence, Judge Simon Hickey ordered destruction of the recovered plants and equipment.