Drugs 'manager' caught tending to four cannabis farms at Wakefield homes

Police attended the first property on Barnsley Road in South Kirkby on May 26 last year following reports of a burglary. Lukasz Baginski was found in the property, along with 39 plants of cannabis growing across two rooms, along with the usual set up of fans, transformers, heat lamps and extractors.

Following his arrest, officers found a hole in the wall to the adjacent property where they found further growing rooms with 45 plants and a similar sophisticated set up. The 36-year-old was eventually released under investigation, but continued his illegal activities.

Leeds Crown Court heard that on November 4 last year, he was spotted by officers acting suspiciously in South Elmsall, after knocking on a door and quickly walking away. They stopped him and found he was holding the keys to a property on Harrow Street. Inside that house they found 14 cannabis plants growing, with forensics linking Baginski to the equipment.

Finally, on August 8 this year, acting on a tip-off, officers forced entry to another property on Barnsley Road in South Elmsall, cutting the metal gates on the door. They found Baginski inside and a further 65 plants that were being dried and prepared for selling.

The court heard that the cannabis had a potential street value of between £20,000 wholesale and £60,000 if sold in individual deals. Baginksi, of Beech Road, Armthorpe, Doncaster, admitted four counts of production of cannabis.

Mitigating, David Hewitt said Baginski was a Polish national who had lived in the UK for some time and had previously worked legitimately.

He said: “He got into debt to help family members in Poland to deal with unexpected medical issues. His role was to look after those properties in exchange for some degree of financial reward.”

However, Judge Christopher Batty would not accept he was there to simply water the plants. He said: “There is no way he was just a gardener. That’s my firm view. He was doing it for money to send home. He was running these properties.”

Jailing him for 45 months, he told him: “Having been bailed, you did it again. You were playing an important management role.”