Interpreter mix-up leads to delay in case of men behind £200k cannabis haul at former Grimsby bank
Two Lithuanian men behind a £200k cannabis factory in a former Grimsby bank couldn't be sentenced when they turned up at court because a Romanian interpreter was sent by mistake.
The two men were due to be dealt with at Grimsby Crown Court on Friday after the huge haul of drugs was discovered in the old Co-op bank building on Osborne Street in May.
But the case had to be adjourned because the interpreter they are entitled to was a Romanian speaker, not Lithuanian.
Judge Mark Bury, dealt with other cases while a search was undertaken to find a Lithuanian interpreter.
The court uses a Leeds-based agency called thebigword and was told there had been "an administrative error" in sending the wrong interpreter.
Judge Bury adjourned the sentencing case against Evaldas Medelis, 28, and Laimonas Navickas, 31, both of no fixed address, to next month.
They were arrested and charged with production of hundreds of cannabis plants in the town centre building.
Humberside Police were alerted to the scene on May 7 after a tip off from a member of the public. A large quantity of cannabis was discovered in a van at the premises at the junction of Osborne Street and Garden Street.
They estimated the street value of the haul of 500 plants to be around £200,000.
It took over three days to clear them out of the building.
Interpreters are booked by each court depending on the language requirement of each defendant.
Each interpreter swears an oath before joining defendants in the dock.
The sentencing hearing has been adjourned to November 1 and both the defendants remain in custody.
A spokesman for thebigword said an investigation was underway into the mix up.