Debt-ridden drug user agreed to grow cannabis at Leeds home to pay off gangsters
A drug user who fell into debt says he was forced to grow tens of thousands of pounds of cannabis at his home as part of deal to pay back dealers.
Police eventually raided the property on Wesley Avenue in Armley and arrested Mackiej Gawlick, having found dozens of plants and bags of the drug waiting to be sold on.
He escaped an immediate jail sentence at Leeds Crown Court after it was heard he had since transformed his life.
The court heard that police had found Gawlick’s driving licence at another property in February, so attended and raided the address in Armley.
The 42-year-old was found inside, along with more than 30 plants in grow rooms upstairs. After an extensive search they also found bags of dried cannabis secreted into the wall.
The four 1kg-bags of the dried drug were worth around £6,000 each.
Gawlick was initially held on remand but was released after two months.
No mitigation was offered after the judge, Recorder Ian Mullarkey, said he would not lock him up.
He accepted Gawlick had been a “gardener” and was forced to co-operate with the criminal gang after running up a debt due to his own drug and gambling issues.
He gave him 12 months’ jail, suspended for 18 months, with 180 hours of unpaid work.
Recorder Mullarkey said Gawlick had already had a taste of custody, that he had distanced himself from his former associates and was now in full-time employment.