A man caught with a ‘cannabis bunker’ beneath his shed was characterised as either an ‘Albanian drug lord’ or a ‘stooge’ in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Recorder Samantha Presland made the either-or comparison on Friday afternoon, as she became the latest judge to deal with the long-running case of Akil Budini.
The 41-year-old, of Rowan Grove, Oxford, pleaded guilty last year to involvement in the cannabis trade, following the discovery by police of half a dozen kilos of cannabis in a room buried beneath the garden shed of his Oxford home.
But his sentencing has been delayed multiple times in the past six months as the lawyers argue over his role in the enterprise and his culpability.
In recent hearings, judges have been told that Budini claims to have been abroad when the bunker was built, despite invoices for skips that apparently bear his name.
When he discovered the subterranean stash place upon his return from Albania, he is said to have come under pressure to keep quiet.
On Friday (May 26), Recorder Presland echoed the comments of a judge last December and said the case would need to be dealt with at a Newton hearing, when evidence could be called and the judge would decide on the role Budini played in the cannabis trade.
Depending on the judge’s decision, the restaurant worker could be looking at several years behind bars.
She adjourned the case for a mention hearing on June 2.
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