A cannabis grower was caught on camera as he failed to make a Tom Cruise-style escape after police raided a former all-you-can-eat buffet in Nuneaton.
Officers swooped on the former Ginger Tree in Bond Street back in July, finding that some of the doors to what was also once a nightclub, had been fortified. But they got inside the building, which was supposed to become a new restaurant and shisha lounge, and found a huge cannabis factory with some 1,600 plants.
If that was not a big enough surprise, they spotted Aleks Sinaj on the roof of the prominent building. Officers on the ground caught him on their body worn cameras trying to escape.
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At one stage and against advice, Warwickshire Police say Sinaj tried to climb down the outside of the building to the waiting officers. But the Tom Cruise-esque move failed as the 29-year-old injured his ankle.
After his arrest, he was taken to hospital for his injuries. The North Street resident was then taken into custody, accused of suspicion of being concerned in the production of a cannabis, a class B controlled drug.
During his police interview, Sinaj answered mostly no comment but did say that he had only been at the property for three days.
It took officers days to secure the building, which they say had been heavily damaged during its conversion to a cannabis grow, with lights and ventilation installed, extensive electrics running on abstracted power, and one bathroom was covered in an excessive amount of spent soil.
The plants themselves, the police say, would have had a value of around £366,282 once harvested. They were all seized.
Having been charged and previously admitted the charges, in court earlier today (September 17), Sinaj was given a 20-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months, and a victims’ surcharge of £187 for production of cannabis.
'Brazen and massive act of vandalism'PC Tom Shorthouse, town centre officer from Nuneaton and Bedworth Safer Neighbourhood Team was among the team who raided the building. Speaking after the court case, he said: "That building has been immensely damaged through the course of its conversion into a cannabis farm, rendering it near useless to the local community without significant work.
“Through this job, we have taken a significant quantity of cannabis out of the market and drastically impacted the income of the gangs making money from it, but none of that fixes this brazen and massive act of vandalism.
"These are not good or upstanding members of the community – they are damaging our towns on multiple levels, and they deserve to be prosecuted for it."
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