Cardiff: Cannabis thief attacked with baseball bat - court

Tomasz Waga travelled to Cardiff from Dagenham

A man was beaten with a baseball bat and brick as he tried to steal plants from a Cardiff cannabis factory, a court heard.

Carl Davies was at a "weed house" with Tomasz Waga, who died after he was found with multiple injuries in January 2021.

Four defendants deny murder at Newport Crown Court. A fifth, Mario Qato has been cleared of the charges.

The judge told the jury the prosecution had reviewed evidence against Mr Qato.

Mr Justice Cotter ordered them to find him not guilty of murder or of participating in organised crime.

The trial of Josif Nushi, of Ninian Road, Cardiff; Mihal Dhana, of Colum Road, Cardiff; Gledis Mehalla, of no fixed abode; and Hysland Aliaj, of no fixed abode is expected to last six to eight weeks.

• Tomasz Waga murder: Gang intended to teach him a lesson - court

• Waga murdered for stealing cannabis - court

In a police interview Mr Davies said he received a call telling him to drive three hours to Cardiff to a house where cannabis was growing.

He said when he got there he met Tomasz Waga, who he had known for about six months, and two other men.

Cannabis plants stuffed in bed sheets

They entered the Newport Road house through a window, the court heard.

Mr Davies said they realised someone was nearby and had alerted others to what was happening.

Mr Davies told the court he and Mr Waga chopped down cannabis plants and stuffed them in bed sheets.

When a "geezer with a baseball bat arrived" one of them shouted "they're here, they're here".

The pair ran upstairs, he said, and tried to escape through the windows. But the walls were covered with black-out sheets.

Mr Davies drove three hours to the cannabis factory

The jury heard a man arrived holding a bamboo stick. Mr Davies said he punched one man and kicked another down the stairs.

"I could feel smashing at the back of my head," he said.

"I can see blood pumping out of my head, can see it up the walls and I felt so faint."

Despite his injuries, the court heard, Mr Davies escaped the house with his legs "feeling like jelly".

He hid in a garden for as long as two hours.

As he hid he said a voice he believed was Mr Waga's said "help" as a van pulled up.

Mr Waga was found dead in Penylan with injuries to his head and mouth, ribs, arms and brain.

The court heard Mr Davies had been arrested in connection with the incident and that the investigation was ongoing.