A HOMELESS man was recruited by a crime gang to run a cannabis factory with the potential to produce £374,000 worth of the class B drug.

Farman Brahim, 27, tried in vain to escape from the police by abseiling down the building in Pontypool town centre when the law came calling.

Nuhu Gobir, prosecuting, said officers discovered 581 cannabis plants inside the property on Commercial Street last November.

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He told Newport Crown Court: “They found a large scale cannabis factory within four rooms.

“A fifth room was used as a bedroom/living room which had three beds, a fridge, an oven, clothing and food.

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“Western Power later attended the property and they found that electricity had been bypassed illegally.

“A Gwent Police drugs expert, Detective Constable Sean Meyrick, estimates that the potential yield of all the plants was between 15.86kg and 47.6kg.

“The potential street value of the drugs would have been between £102,060 and £374,220.

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“He said this was a professional set-up which could have achieved excellent results.”

Brahim, of Christchurch Road, Bournemouth, admitted producing cannabis and dishonestly using electricity on November 25, 2020.

He was a man of previous good character with no convictions recorded against him.

Stuart John, representing Brahim, asked for his client to be given credit for his guilty pleas.

His lawyer added: “The defendant is an asylum seeker who arrived in this country from Iraq in 2016.

“He initially settled with distant family before he moved to the Newport area where he found himself homeless and without any money at all.

“The defendant succumbed to temptation when he was offered the chance to make money.

“He was desperate.”

The court was told Brahim had already served the equivalent of a 12-month prison sentence after spending time remanded in custody and on qualified electronic tag.

The judge, Recorder David Elias QC, told the defendant: “This was a relatively large scale and sophisticated growing operation.

“It was a commercial operation and you played a limited role acting under direction.

“It’s not clear if you did receive any financial reward.”

Brahim was jailed for nine months, suspended for 18 months.

He was ordered to complete a 10-day rehabilitation activity requirement and pay a £156 victim surcharge.

The judge ordered the forfeiture and destruction of the cannabis plants.