A SECOND man has been jailed for more than two years in connection with a £700,000 cannabis cultivation in Hawick.

Thirty-one-year-old Almir Cahani pleaded guilty to charges of being concerned in the supply of cannabis and producing the class B drug.

Selkirk Sheriff Court heard that police officers found Cahani hiding in an attic after using bolt cutters to gain access to the building, which had been protected by double doors.

Seventy-seven kilogrammes of the Class B drug was seized during the raid on the former Buccleuch Hotel in Trinity Street on October 5 along with 410 plants which had not yet fully matured.

Cahani was jailed for 28 months – backdated to October 6 when he was first remanded in custody.

It was the same sentence given to his co-accused – 41-year-old Dritan Katana, also from Albania – who admitted similar charges, and was warned he faces deportation on his release.

However, unlike Katana, Cahani’s lawyer revealed his client hoped to remain in the country on his release, having successfully claimed asylum in the UK.

Cahani claimed he was the victim of modern slavery and had been driven to Hawick “by unknown persons” to effectively act as a gardener for the cultivation by watering the plants.

Sheriff Kevin McCarron said: “You have pleaded guilty to a very serious charge. It has to attract a substantial custodial sentence.”

The sheriff said the starting point was 42 months but reduced the sentence to 28 months due to the guilty plea.