'I hope there will be more pleasant birthdays in the future!' Judge apologises for jailing Albanian cannabis farmer on day he turns 33

A judge apologised to an Albanian cannabis farmer for jailing him on the day he turned 33, telling him: 'I hope there will be more pleasant birthdays in the future.'

Agim Cjapi was inside a building in a Cumbria market town when police raided it, discovering a crop of drugs worth up to £440,000, a court heard.

The 'sophisticated' cannabis factory was equipped with lights and irrigation, with plants growing in multiple rooms.

After being taken into custody, Cjapi claimed he was merely the 'gardener' acting on instructions from a criminal gang, with a court hearing he was 'eager to return home' to Albania.

He admitted cannabis production at Carlisle Crown Court where Recorder Anna Vigars KC imposed an immediate 20-month prison sentence on Friday, his 33rd birthday. 

Jailing him, she told Cjapi: 'I am sorry that this hearing has had to take place on your birthday. 

'I hope there will be more pleasant birthdays in the future.' 

Cjapi was inside the building in Kirkby Stephen's Market Square when police raided it on July 1, the court heard, discovering 293 cannabis plants. 

'They were in a number of different rooms, both upstairs and downstairs. They were in various stages of growth, including seedlings,' prosecutor Tim Evans said.

He described it as a 'sophisticated' cannabis factory with 'lights and soil and water'.

The estimated potential street level yield value of the crop – had the plants reached full maturity – was at £439,000. 

When arrested and interviewed, Cjapi said he had been in the UK for around a year and had been at the property for several months. 

His earnings, he said, would pay off the debt he had accrued to travel to this country. 

He said he sent £200 a month back to Albania to look after his elderly father, who was unwell. 

Defence lawyer Andrew Gurney, mitigating, told the court: 'In essence the defendant was a gardener. 

'He was smuggled into the UK, incurring a significant debt. 

'He was aware of threats of violence if he did not comply by undertaking any tasks he was directed to do. 

'This included working on building sites, and various car washes in the UK, until he was taken to Market Square. 

'His passport was retained by his supervisors and he lived in squalor at Market Square where he tended to the plants as directed.'

Mr Gurney said Cjapi had not received 'any significant remuneration'.

'He wasn't benefiting from the direct sale of the cannabis — nor did he have any control of direction on those above him. 

'He was at the bottom of the chain.' 

Recorder Vigars said Cjapi was likely to serve around a third of the term in custody, and she understood that arrangements for his deportation would be made 'from an early stage'.