A MAN concerned in the production of a £400,000 cannabis farm in Montgomeryshire, and who evaded capture for almost five years, has been told to expect a jail sentence.

Endrit Rusta, 32, was due to be sentenced at Mold Crown Court on Thursday, May 13, after he pleaded guilty to production of the Class B drug at Welshpool Magistrates' Court on April 20.

The cannabis farm, worth £400,000, was found in a disused care home in Llandrinio, near Welshpool, on May 31, 2016. It was described as the “most professional set up” a senior police officer had seen.

A co-defendant was caught and sentenced not long after the discovery of the farm, but Mold Crown Court heard Rusta, of Stanmore Road, Edgbaston, Birmingham, had skipped bail following his initial arrest and was at large until around six months ago.

He was due to be sentenced on Thursday, but Judge Rhys Rowlands heard the prosecution did not accept his basis of plea, meaning a newton hearing to decide on the facts of the case must be held before he is sentenced.

“He was jointly charged with one other. He failed to attend magistrates court in 2017 and was wanted until this year before appearing in Welshpool,” said prosecutor Anna Price.

“Police and immigration have been looking for him. He surrendered in April having been wanted since 2016, he was at large until six months ago.”

Sentencing was postponed until June 25, at Mold, and Rusta was remanded in custody.

Judge Rowlands said: “I am firmly of the view that, were you granted bail, there are substantial grounds to believe you would repeat your behaviour from 2016.

“Your bail is revoked, remain in custody, and the matter will be sentenced at this court on June 25.”

Welshpool magistrates had previously heard that Rusta, a man of previous good character, had produced a different name when questioned by police at the former care home.

DC Hughes said in a statement read out in court that the cannabis farm of fewer than 1,000 plants was the “most professional set up” he had seen.

Rusta, a married father of two, was said to “accept his wrongdoing”.