Lanarkshire cops seen piling huge cannabis plants into van after bust at home

A man has been jailed for 14 months after a cannabis factory was discovered in Larkhall.

Police seized plants worth more than £50,000 from a house in Church Street. Hajredin Delishi, 22, of Oldham, Lancashire, was sentenced at Hamilton Sheriff Court this week.

He admitted producing the Class B drug on February 1, 2022.

Police officers armed with a search warrant raided the property after being tipped off about the illegal cultivation, the Daily Record reports.

Photos taken at the time showed officers filling a vehicle with bin bags stuffed with cannabis plants. During the 24-hour operation they also removed ventilation equipment used in the growing process.

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Delishi was caught red-handed when police officers arrived.

In some similar cases, arrested persons have claimed they were forced to cultivate plants for gangsters, but Delishi's solicitor, Stephen McQuillan, told the court: "He was not kept there or locked in. He could have left the premises and if he had gone to the authorities things might have been different.

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"But he found himself in a very difficult situation and there was a combination of naivety and immaturity on his part. He is assessed as at low risk of further offending."

Sheriff Liam Murphy said only a prison sentence was appropriate but he was willing to restrict the length because of Delishi's age and the fact that by pleading guilty he had saved witnesses from having to give evidence.