AN illegal immigrant was tasked with tending a large-scale domestic cannabis grow so he could send money back to his family in Albania, a court heard.

Ergis Kuci, then aged 19, was the lone occupant of the terraced house in Horden, when police called, on Monday July 16.

Officers found 120 cannabis plants growing to almost full maturity in three upstairs rooms, and a further 50 in the loft space, while the electrical supply in the premises, in Twelfth Street, was found to have been tampered with to allow free power.

Durham Crown Court heard that it was a “sophisticated” operation, with heating, lighting and watering systems in place.

Shaun Dryden, prosecuting, said the estimated yield from the recovered plants in street sale terms for cannabis was put at between £21,850 and £31,450.

When interviewed, Kuci told police he was an Albanian national who came to the UK in a truck, from France, and was initially working as a car washer in the Walthamstow area of London.

He said he was recruited by a group of Pakistani men aware he wanted to raise money to send home to his family.

Mr Dryden said Kuci claimed to have been brought north on a train with two of the men, who then took him to the house to tend the cannabis grow four months earlier.

He said he was given £2,000 on arrival and was told he would be visited by the men every ten days.

Kuci, who turned 20 while on remand in prison, admitted a charge of cannabis production.

Paul Cleasby, mitigating, said the story about the Pakistani gang may not, necessarily, be the full truth, but the defendant was unwilling to reveal any more about those behind the operation for fear of his family’s safety, back in Albania.

Mr Cleasby said Kuci has no previous cautions or convictions and has found the time in custody, since July, difficult, being a foreign national with little understanding of English.

He said the defendant will be deported on completion of his prison sentence, but was eager to get back to his homeland, to continue to train to be a mechanic.

Recorder Euan Duff said Kuci was “a gardener” for a “significant operation” and may not be as naïve as painted, as he had the nous to make his way from Albania in order to make money to send home.

He imposed a 20-month sentence in a young offenders’ institution.