A man was today behind bars after police found hundreds of cannabis plants worth up to £100,000 in homes he rented in Walsall and Birmingham.

Almost 800 cannabis plants were found in houses which were rented by Gurpreet Braich in Follyhouse Lane, Caldmore, and another in Hockley Close, Birmingham.

Ms Sati Ruck, prosecuting, told Wolverhampton Crown Court yesterday that police had searched the address in Follyhouse Lane after being tipped off by a member of the public.

The person had seen him leaving the house carrying cannabis plants.

A total of 527 plants were found in five rooms of the house, along with hydroponic equipment used to grow the drug.

When interviewed by police, 20-year-old Braich told them he had been renting another property in Hockley Close and when officers searched, they found another 269 cannabis plants in four rooms.

Wolverhampton Crown Court heard that the plants had a value of between £45,000 and £100,000.

A CS gas canister was also seized by police when they searched his home address.

Mr John Attwood, defending, said Braich had given another man £10,000 to set up a building material supply business together but was “conned” and lost his savings.

He said the man later offered him cash to rent a property and he accepted because he was “desperate”.

“He did not play any part in setting up the equipment or tending to the plants,” Mr Attwood said.

Braich, of Woodstock Road, Moseley, admitted being concerned in the production of cannabis and possessing a CS gas canister.

Judge John Warner, sentenced him to two years in a young offenders institution and a four-month sentence for possession of the CS gas canister, to run concurrently.

The plants will be destroyed.

By Lisa O’Brien