A CANNABIS grower who had a potential £16,000 drugs farm in the cellar of his Burnley home claimed he had no idea of its worth, a court heard.

Jobless Janos Adalbert Bereczki, 37, had installed an extractor fan, four lamps and an air filter system for the operation.

His electricity meter had also been by-passed.

It was a successful cultivation, with healthy plants which may have yielded 1.6 kilos of cannabis, the court was told.

Burnley Crown Court also heard that Bereczki owned up immediately and in full after police searched his rented house and found the set-up.

The hearing was told the defendant had had a number of industrial accidents, had had to give up work, had received compensation and had invested some of the money in the cannabis growing equipment.

The defendant, of Springfield Road, Burnley, had admitted producing cannabis on April 7 and abstracting electricity and had been committed for sentence by magistrates.

He was sentenced to eight months in prison, suspended for two years, with 12 months’ supervision and 180 hours’ unpaid work.

The defendant must pay £150 costs.