Tenant of Leamington cannabis factory escapes jail

Maysam Sadreddini had pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to being concerned in the production of cannabis at the unit on the Victoria Business Park in Leamington.

He entered his plea on the basis that he rented the unit under pressure from others and was not involved in the actual cultivation.

He was sentenced at Coventry Crown Court to four months in prison suspended for 12 months.

Sadreddini, 29, of Gainford Rise, Coventry, a research engineer, was also ordered to do 100 hours of unpaid work and to pay £1,200 costs.

Judge Philip Gregory said: “I think you have been a very lucky man, because I don’t believe any of the nonsense in your basis of plea for one minute.

“I find it remarkable it was accepted. If it had been put forward before me, I would have rejected it out of hand.”

Prosecutor Amy Jackson said that in February last year a unit which had been rented by Sadreddini on the Victoria Business Park was raided by police.

Officers found 36 cannabis plants and a large amount of growing equipment. The electricity supply had also been bypassed.

It was estimated that total yield could have been between one kilo and just over three kilos, with a street value of up to £19,500.

Miss Jackson said Sadreddini took out the lease after being subjected to some pressure over a debt, and suspected cannabis was going to be grown there.

He said he divided the premises as instructed, but was shut out of it and played no part in the cultivation.

That led Judge Gregory to observe: “Apart from paying the rent throughout the growing period.”

Colin Charvill, defending, said: “He did not go into the premises or assist in any way. He was receiving no financial benefit.

But the judge commented: “He was, he was getting his £5,000 debt paid off.”

Sentencing Sadreddini, Judge Gregory said: “You provided premises for the cultivation of cannabis on a significant scale for the purpose of making a considerable sum of money.

“Without your role in providing the premises and paying the rent, this cannabis could not have been grown.”