A Radcliffe man who ran a cannabis farm in the cellar of his family home and bypassed his electricity meter has been given a community order at Manchester Crown Court, as first reported by The Bolton News.

Mikel Selimaj, 45, of Ainsworth Road, Radcliffe, appeared in court on Monday 19 October 2026. He had previously pleaded guilty to producing cannabis and abstracting electricity. The story was also reported by the Bury Times.

What police found

The court heard that police executed a warrant at his home on 22 July 2025 and found around 60 cannabis plants growing in the cellar. The plants were estimated to have a yield of between two and four kilogrammes, with a potential street value of between £7,000 and £30,000.

Officers also found that the property’s electricity meter had been bypassed. Fingerprint evidence linked Selimaj to the cultivation, and around £6,000 in cash was recovered from a wardrobe.

During sentencing, the court heard Selimaj claimed he had been befriended by a group of Albanian men who persuaded him to allow the grow in exchange for cash payments and a share of future profits. He said he was initially paid £2,000 and promised more after the crop was harvested.

The judge’s comments

Circuit Judge Sarah Johnston accepted that Selimaj had no expertise in growing cannabis, but rejected suggestions that he had played only a minimal role. She said it was "not difficult to accept" that he had a significant role, noting that he had allowed the cultivation in his home and was financially motivated.

The court was told Selimaj is in lawful employment, has an 11-year-old daughter and has never previously been in trouble with the law.

The judge said the crop, once harvested and sold, "could cause untold harm to the people that choose to smoke it". She said his actions had "placed his family at risk and put the community in harm’s way by letting drugs onto the streets of Manchester".

She described him as "a rich man in all the ways that matter", referring to his family and stable circumstances, and added: "It’s greed that allowed him to take part in this operation."

Sentence

Aggravating factors included the bypassing of the electricity supply and the fact the farm was run in a home where his child lived. The judge also took into account his guilty pleas, his lack of previous convictions and what was described as genuine remorse.

Concluding that the offending did not cross the threshold for an immediate custodial sentence, she imposed a community order requiring 120 hours of unpaid work within 18 months. He was warned that he must comply with the order and commit no further offences.

Cannabis is a Class B drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, and producing it is an offence.