Cannabis farm gardener ‘wanted quick cash to pay for gran’s hip replacement’

Police found him at a property with 63 marijuana plants.

A cannabis farm gardener claimed he wanted to make ‘quick money’ to help fund a hip replacement operation for his grandmother.

Edvinas Ulinauskas was arrested after police raided a house in Branholme, Hull, where they found the 27-year-old along with 63 cannabis plants, a court heard.

The Lithuanian come to the UK to make money for his family, in particular his grandmother who needed a hip replacement, his defence lawyer said.

Harry Bradford, prosecuting, said that police went to Borthwick Close at 11..45am on June 23 this year to execute a drugs warrant and used force to get in through the front door.

Three rooms were found to have cannabis plants inside them, with 28 in the first room, 17 in the second and 18 in the third.

‘In the bathroom were five empty bottles of plant feed and other drug paraphernalia,’ said Mr Bradford told Hull Crown Court.

Ulinauskas, of Borthwick Close, Bransholme, was found in the living room. A number of mobile phones and his passport were also uncovered.

During police interview, Ulinauskas, who has no previous convictions,  claimed that there was no evidence of drug supply and that the cannabis grow was not for that purpose.

Mr Bradford said that Ulinauskas had told the probation service that he came to this country with the intention of growing cannabis because the ‘profit margins were better in the UK than Lithuania and he needed quick money’ to support his family.

‘He had an expectation of a significant financial advantage,’ said Mr Bradford.

No estimated value had been put on the likely cannabis yield, however.

Rachel Scott, mitigating, said that the details given about  Ulinauskas’s motives were confusing because, as he said came to the UK to grow cannabis, but also said he wanted to find work.

Ms Scott added: ‘He came to the UK because his grandmother needed to have a hip replacement and he needed money in order to pay for that.

‘He believed that he would receive a higher wage in the UK and therefore moved for that purpose.

‘When he arrived in the UK, he didn’t have a visa to work and he was unable to find work and that’s when he became involved in this enterprise.

‘He accepts that he was acting as a [cannabis] gardener and that he did expect some financial gain.

‘He expected to receive payment when the cannabis crops were finished. Any financial benefit he would have expected would have been after months of work.

She said her client has no right to remain in the UK and knows he will shortly be deported back to Lithuania.

Recorder Ashley Serr said: ‘I reject the suggestion that this was only minimal financial advantage, given the scale of production. The fact that the plants had not reached maturity at arrest is irrelevant.

‘You were able freely to come and go within the property with keys and there was the presence of mobile phones, all suggesting some awareness of the scale of the operation.’

Ulinauskas, who was already in custody at Leeds Prison on remand, pleaded guilty to producing cannabis and was jailed for two years and four months.

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